


Unbreakable

by mysticwater



Category: Bakuten Shoot Beyblade, Beyblade
Genre: 3 years post g-rev, F/M, Female Friendship, Love Triangles, Male-Female Friendship, Romance, Surprise Pairing, Team Dynamics, Team Feels, bladebreakers are OT7, dealing with FEELINGS, hilary beyblades, kai/hilary - Freeform, slight AU, tyson is an idiot
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-13
Updated: 2018-07-11
Packaged: 2018-09-08 10:58:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 23,245
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8841883
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mysticwater/pseuds/mysticwater
Summary: Hilary has come a long way since the fall of BEGA. But when she easily beats both Kai and Tyson in a fun battle of the sexes tournament, she inadvertently becomes the new World Champion. How will this change the dynamics of their team when suddenly the girl who once knew nothing about beyblade - becomes the opponent everyone wants to beat? Sequel to Untouchable. Post G-Rev





	1. Battle of the Sexes

  
This is the Sequel to [Untouchable](https://www.fanfiction.net/s/1545002/1/Untouchable) \- posted originally on my ff.net account  
I guess it can be read without it, but it definitely helps as Kai and Hilary are now a couple

 

 **Setting:** 3 years after Untouchable/G-rev (they age 18-20)  
**Pairing:** still a Kai/Hilary fic (haters to the left),  
**Background pairings:** Tala/Jade(OC), Ray/Mariah, Max/Emily, Daichi/MingMing, etc

Beyblade + Characters © Aoki Takao  
Jade Tomei © Jade-55  
Plot © mysticwater

 

* * *

 

Battle of the Sexes

* * *

Hilary sat and glared at the five girls who ambushed her. She leant back into the couch - positioned in front of a glowing fireplace - and took a slow sip of her chocolate banana milkshake. The one which the pink-haired neko-girl insisted on buying for her from the ice cream parlour down the hall. She should have realised then it was an intervention, Mariah had acquired the new habit of using Hilary's sweet-tooth against her.

You would think sitting in an expensive hotels lounge in Fujiyama Hotsprings with five girlfriends would be a great experience; apparently, Hilary didn't think so. Not when the five bey-girls practically ambushed her and dragged her from her room.

 _''Let's get some ice-cream!'' My ass...'_ Hilary narrowed her ruby eyes at the pink-haired girl.

Mariah, ignoring her triple scoop vanilla ice cream, levelled and matched Hilary's stern look. "Why didn't you say anything? The boys don't even know!" The neko-girl had grown up over the years; the curves grew, her waist shrank, and her hair a bit longer. The girl was a knock-out.

"I didn't _want_ them to know," Hilary said flatly, how her five friends even found out she had been an orphan for - (How long had it been?) - 5 years now, was beyond her. And to be honest, it really wasn't any of their business. "I didn't want _anybody_ to know." She said pointedly, glaring hard at Mariah.

Matilda, who sat at the end of the table, hesitated slightly, "We wanted to throw you a party here at the hot springs, and we thought you would want your family here- so…"

Matilda had grown up as well; her hair still in a short pixie cut, the naïve innocence radiating off of her never faded - but there seemed to be a drastic increase in the number of guys that looked her way now. She was no longer the child of the group. Though she was still the youngest, at the age of 17, she fit well into their new group.

"-So we asked around and got Hiro to do some investigating for us! But as it turns out, Hiro was surprised to even find out _when_ your birthday is- let alone that your parents died!" Julia interjected. Still blunt and forceful as ever. She had cut her hair to shoulder length - while still keeping her nails long and decorated with polish and jewels. Still the tallest and oldest of the girls, she held the older sister role to perfection.

Perfect. Now Hiro knew as well.

She and Hiro still weren't quite on speaking terms - it was awkward, especially when her boyfriend wanted to murder him. Things had never been the same since he kissed her during Kai's absence.

"Haven't the Blade Breaker's ever _once_ celebrated your birthday?!" Emily asked, breaking Hilary of thoughts from the past. Now Emily perhaps had changed the most over four years. The glasses were replaced with contacts, she grew her hair long, accentuating her natural curls of her ends - but today she kept it up in a high ponytail. She looked nothing like that geeky young girl Hilary once knew. Now, not only did she have brains, but she had the looks too - though Mariah was still beating her in the chest department, much to Emily's disdain.

"No," Hilary muttered dryly, almost cynically. "Boy's are too stupid to notice I hadn't had one in five years."

"What about Kai?!" Jade gasped accusingly. Jade was still Jade; sassy and defiant - a little taller but she kept her looks the same as always. Crystal blue eyes stared back at Hilary in utter shock at this revelation; her light red hair tied up in her signature dual-buns -with her usual scrunched up yellow ribbons keeping them in place - and scattered bangs which framed her pale face. She hadn't met up with her Chinese friend in over a year, if Hilary wasn't so mad right now she would've been enjoying catching up with the red-head.

Hilary could only shrug instead.

Mariah smacked her forehead, "This party is _so_ overdue."

Her birthday was tomorrow. She would be 18 and after the first day of the tournament battles, her friends were determined to throw her a party. Hilary didn't mind the idea of a party so much, she just hoped her parental information wouldn't get around.

The brunette sighed heavily as she continued to watch her friends talk about how stupid boys could be and how stupid _she_ was for not saying anything. They just didn't get it. Her parents died a few weeks after the Blade Breaker's met Zeo. But Hilary was determined for it not to affect her or the team, so she stayed quiet. She did her grieving in private. She didn't want a huge fuss over it; it would only make her more depressed. Hilary just wanted to be happy again.

But then Kai kissed her.

So many things had happened since then; Boris, Brooklyn, BEGA... it was almost easier to forget.

Besides, being with the boys all these years had healed her in ways no one could understand- in ways Hilary wasn't quite sure of herself. They were her family now, after all.

She diverted her eyes to the window, towards the nightlife below Mt Fuji at the famous amusement park - Fuji-Q Highland. The BBA had sent all the top beyblader's in the world to Mt. Fuji for an over-due tournament. After Boris and Brooklyn had left the BBA in shambles (both literally and financially), the annual World Championships had been put on hiatus while the industry recovered. That didn't stop the Blade Breakers and others from hosting their own unofficial mini-tournaments and training camps for fun. They were all determined to keep up their skills. But it wasn't the same.

Nearly three years later, the BBA was finally able to hold a new fusion tournament.

Tomorrow the "Battle of the Sexes" competition would begin; boys vs girls. The rules were simple, two girls vs two guys in a two-on-two battle. The last blader standing wins a point. The team with the most points by the end of the tournament had bragging rights and guaranteed qualification for his or her team for the official restart of the Fourth World Championships, to be held later this year.

Mariah had approached Hilary first. She really didn't expect to participate, being the only girl on her team - but Mariah was in the same boat. And after battling Hilary into exhaustion during her three-on-one with her, Julia and Matilda - she knew the girl had skills. With Hilary's new beyblade rivaling that of Tyson's in both design and balance, with her firey-cat bit-beast Emberfae, Mariah knew she would be a _purrfect_ match for her Galux.

It was weird to think that tomorrow she would have a partner that wasn't Kai. Though Mariah often still kicked her ass in battle, Hilary had improved drastically since she trained with the Blade Breakers every day. She was only slightly disappointed she wouldn't partner with Jade upon realizing she would be joining this tournament, but Jade already had her own partner too - Ming-Ming of all people.

Apparently Ming-Ming had approached Jade first. Both girls had shared many similarities; from both of them speaking Chinese, right down to the twin buns in their hair. Though Hilary hated to admit it - their beyblading styles complimented each other in a strange way. Hilary had to remind herself that this tournament was about men vs women; she knew she would have to put her annoying rivalry with Ming-Ming aside, for the moment at least.

It was now dark, and only a few foreign bey-girls were swimming in the hotel pool, everyone else seemed to be having fun drinking and partying on the terrace. Everyone was unwinding before the battles tomorrow. No one truly saw this tournament as something too serious, it was being held for fun - to ease the boredom before the real battles to come. Hilary liked it better this way, she wasn't a fan of the pressure.

Hilary glanced back at her friends and noticed how they were now talking about guys. Matilda was covering her ears as Mariah went into vivid details about her and Ray and their preferences in the bedroom.

"Actually, he doesn't mind being tied up- plus it gives me complete control- something I'm used to." The pink-haired girl let out a giggle - Matilda's face flushed red. "Don't worry Matty, your time will come."

Julia smirked at this and glanced at Emily who had a faint blush on her cheeks as well, "How about you, Emily? You dominate Max yet?" She laughed.

Emily folded her arms over her chest and glared back at the dancing flames in the fireplace- away from Julia's smirk, "I happen to like him as the dominant partner, thank you very much. I'm not as aggressive as Mariah."

Hilary snorted at this - as if Maxy had a dominant bone in his body - this earned her Mariah's full sadistic attention too, "How about you Hil's?"

"You know I'm still a virgin, Mariah."

"That can change… Besides we all know your boyfriend is eye candy- maybe I should gift wrap him for you for your birthday." She grinned leaning forward inspecting Hilary's blush.

"Wha-what are you talking about you stupid cat?!" Hilary gasped scooting away from her friend.

Julia strummed her fingers on the arm of the love seat she sat on with Matilda, as she eyed Hilary as well, "Hilary has a point Mariah- what good is eye candy? Hilary needs the _edible_ stuff." She said suggestively taking a sip of her coke.

"JULIA!" Hilary turned to glare at Julia, who snickered at her scarlet face.

"Point taken Jules~" Mariah kept her gaze intent on Hilary as she stretched her legs out from under her and placed them on the coffee table in front of the couch. "Hil's needs some action." She giggled.

"I do not!" Hilary huffed. "Besides, Kai and I make out all the time!" She added rather lamely.

"Oh thank god! I don't want to imagine Kai having sex!" Jade exclaimed momentarily relieved, he was like her brother after all! Her relief was short-lived as Julia and Mariah turned their attention to Jade and Tala's sex life.

Hilary rolled her eyes and tuned their banter out again, rubbing the bridge of her nose - trying desperately to fight the migraine she could feel coming.

What were they thinking? Just because she and Kai often spend time together didn't mean they were off fucking all the time! He respected her and her pace - that alone gave her solace.

Recently, they had been spending a lot more "alone time" together, partly because Ray, Max, and Daichi all had girlfriends. Daichi had recently started dating Ming-Ming (much to Kenny's chagrin and Hilary's distaste for the pop princess) while Tyson and Kenny were too busy worrying about their Beyblading skills. That left her and Kai usually alone together. The girls must have picked up on this.

Kai had been training her in private a lot over the past year. Even with the paparazzi now well aware of their relationship, the only scandalous photos that ever popped up online of them together was their nightly training sessions at the park. Oh! There was also a few pictures of them holding hands during their travels overseas.

Okay. Maybe that _was_ kinda boring.

Well whatever, she wanted to change the topic and fast. "If you girls are so worried about my sex-life, why not torment Matilda and Julia for a change?" She glared at Mariah pointedly because it was often her ideas to begin with that made Hilary twitch.

Julia and Matilda were a powerhouse match; the perfect team - yet completely opposite of one another. Youngest with the oldest, innocent with the completely crazy. Despite that, Hilary was excited to watch them blade together tomorrow.

"Oh don't even bother working your magic on me! I can handle roping Michael in - all on my own." Julia said stubbornly; it was no secret she had been pinning after Emily's teammate for the past few weeks now. "Besides, if anyone needs a guy it's Matty! Hilary is right. I see how close you are with Miguel." She winked affectionately at the younger pink haired girl, who flushed brightly in response.

"B-but-"

"Hey, look there he is now!"

Matilda, flushed as pink as her hair, spun around in the love seat to see that Mariah was right. Miguel was walking towards them - alongside Ray, Max and Michael. "Hey, girls!" Michael greeted affectionately.

Hilary merely grunted as the girls and boys exchanged their 'hellos.'

"You guys wanna come with us to the pool party on the roof?" Max asked walking around to stand behind Emily. "We are meeting the guys there- so we figured we'd come grab you girl's first."

"Oh, fun!" Mariah was up on her feet, "Can you boys give us girls 5 minutes to change into something waterproof? I wouldn't want to get _wet_ in these." She winked making Ray fidget slightly at the underlying innuendo hidden in her tone. Ray was such a closet pervert.

Michael laughed at this, "Only 5? That must be a record for girls!" He narrowly missed a cushion being thrown at his face by Julia. "Well, it's true! Emily takes at least 10 minutes to get changed! Even longer now that she wears contacts and makeup- OUCH"

Emily's cushion did not miss. She high-fived Jade and Julia.

The banter continued back and forth until the girls were on their feet heading towards the elevator- but Hilary stayed where she was.

"Hilary, aren't you coming too?" Max's comment got the attention of all the girls who were still waiting for the elevator. She smiled at her best friend.

"No, it's okay Maxy. The girls gave me a migraine; I'm not really up to listening to loud music and swimming- you guys go on without me. I'll just read a magazine or something." She said offhandedly.

Mariah stuck her tongue out at the brunette, "You _so_ take the fun out of everything!"

"And don't think you've gotten out of it! We'll continue our conversation later." Julia pointed an accusing finger at Hilary, who merely rolled her eyes. Jade laughed and gave her a wave as they all disappeared into the elevator.

Hilary sighed heavily, tilting her head back in exhaustion; she let the warmth of fire washed over her body in a healthy glow. This was exactly what she needed, time away from everyone and everything; time to herself. This gave her time to think.

It wasn't often Hillary had time to herself. She spent most of her free time training with the Blade Breakers. Tyson and Kai were relentless and ridiculously uneasy between overseas tournaments - they drilled the team hard since the fall of BEGA. So Hilary was thankful that Mr. Dickenson suggested a vacation style competition for the world's top beyblader's. Battle of the Sexes no less!

Though it was only her third year blading with the Blade Breakers, she was beginning to appreciate what it meant to be at the top of the Beyblading world.

Everyone seemed to be a lot closer than ever before. The Blade Breakers, The All Stars, The White Tigers, The Blitzkrieg Boys, The Barthez Battalions, The Majestics, Julia and Raul, hell, even Team BEGA was quite close with the rest of them. (With the exception of Hilary and Ming-Ming… they still had issues of course.)

It was nice to have such a strong bond; it made her feel as if they were one large family- always there for one another, no matter what. Beyblading brought them all together.

"Hey."

She glanced up to see Kai taking a seat beside her. "Hey." She said back nonchalantly. "What are you doing here?"

He ignored her question and instead asked his own, "Not going to the pool party?" He arched his eyebrow at her as if he was almost expecting her to be right up there with her girlfriends. He had always found it amusing that Hilary could never make friends in school, but the moment she picked up a beyblade - they all came to her immediately. It was cute how much beyblading suited her now, considering her rocky start with the ' _beythingy's'._

"The girls gave me a headache. And I'm really in no mood to be flaunting around a pool deck with thousands of perverted hormonal males, all while in my bathing suit." Hilary huffed at the thought, curling up into the corner of the couch. She enjoyed how the warmth from the fire felt just right. "Frankly I think pool parties are just a lame excuse for guys to watch girls run around half naked." She said dryly.

Kai actually laughed at this. "You make 'half naked girls' sound like a bad thing." He teased - something he was doing more often as he got older and as the two of them shared more time together. _The_ Kai Hiwatari actually had a hidden sense of humour. Who knew?

"You are such a closet pervert. You are worse than Ray, I swear." She muttered darkly, stretching out her legs and flopping them down in his lap. She leaned against the arm of the couch, staring accusingly at the bluenette beside her. "If the _naked girl party_ intrigues you so much, why are you here?"

Kai nearly smirked. Was that a twinge of jealousy he detected in that tone?

She shivered feeling his fingers trail circles at the base of her socked heel. "I heard Ming-Ming was performing for the party tonight." He said with a soft grunt.

"Enough said," Hilary said dryly, rolling her eyes at the mention of the pop princess's name.

"Besides, lounging with my girlfriend easily beats dealing with a drunken Tyson and the rest of the idiots, any day," Kai said lazily, his fingers trailing up her foot to the side of her ankle. She wasn't ticklish, (he knew that, though), but the feather-light touch was making her hot and bothered. (He knew that too.)

"Choosing me over _'idiots'_ isn't exactly the best form to flatter a girl, Kai. Honestly, as a guy with thousands of fangirls, you would think you would have _some idea_ when it comes to pleasing girls." She leant forward and pushed at him roughly with her foot as she sat up. She sent him a playful sneer.

"I know how to _please_ girls - just fine." He whispered back, his voice low and suggestive when his eyes locked wth hers. His knowing gaze made her shiver. Her thoughts travelled back to Mariah's suggestion.

It wasn't like they hadn't done anything sexual before... Just, not everything.

And it wasn't like she didn't _want_ to... just they rarely had the time or the energy to even try lately.

Although Hilary had been free of her bit-beat induced fevers for three years now, nothing could stop the real exhaustion she felt after training and battling with the Blade Breakers every day. It was a lot of work.

"I heard it's someone's birthday tomorrow." Kai's raspy voice roughly pulled Hilary from her thoughts.

_'Fuck.'_

She was going to murder that pink catgirl if it was the last thing she could do! Or maybe it was Jade? Regardless, someone was getting throttled for sticking their noses where it didn't belong!

Hilary exhaled and looked away - fixating back out the window. He probably knew everything by now. Was he going to berate her for not being honest? "What else did you hear?"

Kai smiled softly, reaching up to tilt her chin to face him. In one swift motion, he pulled her up into a kiss, his hands locking behind her neck as he pulled her closer.

She sighed softly into his mouth - he gave her one final kiss before pulling away, but as he pulled his hands down Hilary felt a gentle yet unfamiliar weight around her neck. Looking down, she noticed something shiny and red; a beautiful gold necklace, decorated with vibrant red rubies alternating with round brilliant diamonds set in a single gold infinity pendant.

Hilary gasped at the sight. "Kai!" She looked up to see her boyfriend blushing slightly.

Despite his coloured cheeks, he reached out and took her hand. "I already had a feeling about your parents," He admitted. He paused as she looked away again. "But I should know better anyone what it's like to keep secrets like that, we all have our reasons." He squeezed her hand, getting her full attention again. She turned back to stare into his soft eyes. "You were the one who said the Blade Breaks are a family. That means you are my family too. I said it before, I want you by my side - you'll never be alone again. I promise."

"Kai..." Hilary didn't know what to say, except - "I love you."

Then she was in his arms, hugging him tightly, hoping he didn't notice her tears. He always knew what she needed to hear.

"I love you too." She felt his chuckle vibrate lightly against her cheek as she snuggled closer into his chest. He patted her head lovingly, pulling her in closer, so she was curled up in his lap. "Anyway, Happy Birthday."

"Don't think this means I'll go easy on you tomorrow." Hilary giggled back as she fingered the beautiful pendant. "Besides, the birthday girl should win by default~" She nudged him suggestively.

Kai scoffed at this and tightened his hold around the petite brunette - she squealed as his lips nipped at her ear. "Fat chance. Tyson is my partner; you really think he'd let you win just because it's your birthday?"

Hilary leant back to look at him fully, his arms locked behind the small of her back to support her. "I guess that means I'll just have to beat you both."

Kai smirked. He loved how competitive she got with beyblading, it was sexy. He leant forward, their noses almost touching. "Please, do _try_." His tone was mocking, but before she could respond back, he silenced her with his lips once more.

_'He may cheat because he's an amazing kisser, but Kai always wins.'_

But, Hilary didn't mind losing like this.

* * *

Hilary was exhausted but she was having a blast. She didn't realize how much she enjoyed beyblading at tournaments with her friends until the BBA went into hiatus. Although she trained with the Blade Breakers on the daily, it was fun to watch the other teams compete in cross team pairs. It was refreshing and exhilarating - especially a tournament for the pure joy of beyblading. No real titles or prizes to be won, just catching up and testing each other.

Or so she thought.

Hilary and Mariah were on a winning streak, with eight wins and two ties they were the top ranking female beybaders in their division. Meaning they would be facing off against the top ranking males for the final match of the tournament; no one was surprised with Kai and Tyson's ten win streak to the top.

Hilary never imagined she would be the Beyblade World Champion's classmate or his friend for that matter! Tyson and his team had grown on her, but she never imagined herself one day facing him in a real beybattle - as a pro-beyblader. Hilary was only joking last night; she wasn't _really_ expecting her and Mariah to be at the top in their female-only division. Hilary figured she would only drag Mariah down eventually. Had she really improved that much in 3 years?

"I guess the birthday _witch_ 's training with the Beyblade Master has paid off!" Tyson sneered, only to be cuffed in the shoulder by Kai. Hilary grinned as Kai scowled at his partner - who stuck his tongue back out at him in return as he rubbed at his sore muscle. Everyone knew that Tyson's favourite nickname for her since high school was "wicked-witch", but there was only so much her boyfriend could take. Especially on her birthday.

"As if! Kai's been training her _hard_ in private, hasn't he?" Mariah nudged Hilary suggestively, causing the brunette and bluenette across from them to blush slightly at the innuendo.

"Let's shut up and battle shall we?" Hilary gave one last glare at Mariah before pulling out her star-shaped launcher and her new black beyblade. Hilary designed Emberfae's new vessel from scratch - Kenny didn't even help her this time. She made sure to install a lighter custom-made attack disc for speed, the hard metal MG core to absorb power and to compliment her beyblading style, plus an extra custom balance ring. She was proud of her handiwork.

"BLADERS ARE YOU READY?!" The announcer took Hilary's lead and began the countdown as all four bladers loaded their launchers and aimed them at the beydish. The stadium on top of Mount Fuji was huge, with six beydish rings active throughout the day, everyone had been battling on and off all day since early morning. They finally arrived at the final battle; Hilary knew the boys had to be equally exhausted from the day - she was going to make sure Tyson suffered a bit longer.

"3!"

Hilary tightened her grip, glaring hard at Tyson - he mirrored her stance.

"2!"

Mariah crouched low into her battle stance, "Remember our strategy." She whispered, and Hilary nodded in affirmation.

"1!"

Hilary locked eyes with Kai. She wasn't holding back today.

"LET IT RIP!"

Hilary pulled her rip-chord with all her strength, launching her beyblade with perfect precision and unison with Mariah. They had found the perfect rhythm with each other throughout the day. Kai and Tyson were no exceptions. Their launches were equally sharp and precise - not to mention they had an extra six years of experience as a team, compared to her and Mariah's mere day together as a real team.

But Mariah had a plan; Hilary had been watching Tyson and Kai beyblade before she even picked up one. She (and Kenny) knew their strengths and weaknesses better than anyone else on the team. She had all the data and all the late night repairs on her side.

They needed to make this a quick battle, the longer it drew out - the fewer chances they would have.

Kai was their first target.

"Let's go, Dragoon!" Tyson was the first to attack, or at least he tried. Both Mariah and Hilary dodged his simple attack with ease, as their pink and black beyblades circled the beydish - the two cats had the bird locked-in as their prey. "What the-?"

Kai saw it coming a little too late, "Dranzer, endure it! Blazing Tempest!"

"Don't let him get away, Galux! Mountain Cat Attack!" Mariah shouted.

"Flame Wing Attack!" Hilary commanded, sending Emeberfae a rush of energy.

The phoenix shot upward from his blade, fleeing in vain as both Emberfae and Galux came down hard in a double-team attack on his blue beyblade. Mariah's leopard and Hilary's fiery black panther pounced on the phoenix, sending him crashing back down to the beydish in a fiery blaze.

The beydish exploded into flames engulfing all three beyblades, as Tyson pushed his Dragoon to the edge to avoid the heat - unable to see his partner in the fire.

Kai grunted in pain; he knew he underestimated them - but it was too late. Instead, he called out one final attack; he would not go down alone. "Pull her in, Dranzer! Spiral Fire Spin!"

"Shit." Mariah faltered as she felt Galux take the full brunt of his attack; she could only watch helplessly as the phoenix flames spiraled around her bit-beast. Both her pink blade and Kai's blue one flew out of the ring together - clattering behind Kai.

Suddenly, Hilary was alone with Tyson.

This was not part of the plan.

Tyson stared back and forth between her and Kai, wide-eyed. "No way... Then you- You _really have_ been training her in private?! He gasped accusingly at his partner, unable to hide his astonishment.

"Of course, I have - you idiot. She's my girlfriend." Kai scowled back, stating the obvious. He couldn't believe the two girls just bested him, almost immediately. He glanced back at Hilary, who had a wicked smirk on her face, "Tyson look out!"

Another second too late. Hilary had attacked with her full strength. Tyson's Dragoon went whizzing past his ear, just as he spun back around to get back into the battle. But it was already over. He had wasted his chance bickering with Kai. His beyblade clattered behind him as the stadium fell into silence.

"HILARY WINS! UNBELIEVABLE SHE JUST BEAT THE WORLD CHAMPION! SHE AND MARIAH WIN THE BATTLE OF THE SEXES!"

"Kyaaaah!" Mariah squealed happily - lunging at Hilary with a bear hug. "You did it!"

Suddenly, all the girls were around her - friends and foes (cough-Ming-Ming-cough) - all were hugging her, congratulating her. Jade even kissed her on the cheek she was so happy.

"You are the new World Champion now!" Mariah exclaimed excitedly, "We beat the best! We are the best!"

Hilary laughed as the cat girl jumped up and down. She couldn't believe it either. Everything felt like a blur, like a dream.

But as she glanced back over to Kai and Tyson, she felt her stomach drop. She had never seen Tyson look so angry; his fists clenched as he stared hard at her in a livid silence - she could almost hear it over the loud cheers and laughter.

Kai was staring at her too; he tilted his head in her direction, but she couldn't read his expression. Was it shock, anger, or something else?

What did she do?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: so this is happening XD let me know what you think - I am sure my writing style has changed, but here's hoping my ideas are still interesting?
> 
> Read & Review; it's much appreciated!
> 
> Much Love. xoxoxo


	2. World Champion Struggles

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DISCLAIMER:  
> Beyblade + Characters © Aoki Takao  
> Jade Tomei © Jade-55  
> Plot © mysticwater
> 
> AN: I have bigger plans for this fic than originally anticipated. Big changes are coming for Hilary!
> 
> OWTF

World Champion Struggles

* * *

"Happy birthday!"

"How does it feel to be number one?"

"Isn't this the best birthday ever?!"

"I guess you're not an amateur anymore?"

"Congrats, World Champ!"

Hilary was overwhelmed.

The Battle of the Sexes after-party was in full swing, and so was her promised birthday celebration. Mariah and the girls had set up banners and balloons - congratulating the birthday girl. But she had more to celebrate than just her birthday tonight. She was the new World Champion.

Albeit unofficial, it was evident the beybladeing community saw her in a new light. Well, most of them.

While everyone was partying and laughing, drinking and dancing - Tyson was pulling a "Kai attitude". He stood in the corner of the room, glaring at anyone who congratulated her on the win. She tried her best to ignore him, but it was hard not to notice how all the Blade Breakers were avoiding her now.

Against the laser lights and club music suddenly pumping, she watched as Kenny stuck close to Tyson; he was refusing to look her way, trying his best to keep the sulking bluenette company. She noticed Ming-Ming had pulled Daichi out the room earlier; they had a thing for intense makeout sessions after battles. Ray was across the room, drinking with Lee as he watched over Mariah affectionately. Mariah was jumping to the beat as she and Julia dragged Matilda onto the dance floor. While Max stood near the punch bowl, speaking quietly with Emily. Neither of the boys had bothered to congratulate her win or wish her a Happy Birthday yet.

Of course, Kai was nowhere to be found.

"I am genuinely impressed, Hilary. I never expected you to beat Kai, let alone Tyson." Tala complimented her, wrapping his arm around her shoulder to give her a gentle hug. "You battled with impressively calculated execution." The Blitzkrieg Boys stood around her nodding in agreement. Hilary could only offer him a weak smile in reply, clutching her new infinity pendant, unsure how to respond.

Jade was hugging her next, "I am so proud of you, Hilary!" She snuggled her friend; it had been too long since they last saw each other, she had really missed her. "But I wouldn't leave the hotel if I were you - the reporters and paparazzi just got wind that you beat Tyson! They are all just itching for an interview!" Jade added in warning.

"I still can't believe you actually beat Tyson!" Bryan exclaimed.

"He's been the number one beyblader to challenge for the past 5 years - and you managed to beat him in less than 5 minutes!" Ian could only shake his head in disbelief. Spencer nodded again, sharing his shock.

Hilary blushed at the praise. Something warm stirred in her chest. She felt accomplished. Was this how it felt to be Tyson? Was this why his head was always exploding in ego?

"Indeed, congratulations." A familiar voice broke her thoughts. Hilary looked up to see Hiro standing beside her. He ruffled her hair in affection, something he hadn't done in awhile. "Your training has really paid off. That was a very impressive battle. I've never seen anyone beat Tyson so quickly."

"That's because she cheated!" Hilary spun around to see a livid Tyson storming towards her, Kenny hot on his heels behind him. Max, Ray and the beybladers around them, took notice of Tyson's outburst too.

"I didn't cheat-"

"It was a cheap shot! It wasn't even a real battle! If you had to face the full power of my Dragoon, you would be _nothing_ right now!" Tyson shouted, interrupting her. "You can't even call that a _real_ win! It doesn't count!"

Before Hilary could argue back, Hiro stepped in between them. "Wrong, little brother. Hilary knows your style of beyblading better than most; she simply took advantage of your distraction. It was a fair win, Tyson. She beat you fair and square." Hiro said evenly. "Maybe if you hadn't been so over-confident, you wouldn't have lost."

Tyson clenched his fists tightly, glaring up at his brother in anger. A slow song had started but no one was dancing anymore, everyone was watching Tyson's attack. "She's no World Champion. She wouldn't stand a chance against my Dragoon." He spat back. "I only lost because she's a cheap blader who uses cheap tricks!"

Hilary flinched at his words. Their friends and most of the teams were gathered around them now. Ray and Max seemed at a loss for words, but neither came to her defense. Did they agree with Tyson?

Hiro folded his arms across his chest, clearly not impressed with Tyson's behaviour. "It's your own fault for underestimating her. Be a man and accept it, Tyson. You are being a sore loser."

Mariah rushed to Hilary's side, "You're just jealous, Tyson! It was Hilary's idea to tag-team Kai; I was supposed to help her tag-team you next! Galux losing too wasn't part of our plan; she improvised on the spot! She deserved the win! It was all her." She sneered, wagging her finger in defence.

Tyson just scowled at Hilary. Their eyes locked, as a murmur of surprise and agreement grew around them. Their friends seemed to agree with Hiro; this only angered the bluenette teen further.

"Let's go, Chief. The _wicked witch_ clearly doesn't need us anymore. She can just cheat her way to the top." Tyson snapped, glaring hard at her. Kenny nodded nervously, fiddling with his glasses. Hilary felt Jade squeeze her hand in reassurance as they watched Tyson spin on his heel and storm away, leaving the banquet hall. Kenny quickly scuttled after him.

Ouch.

"Uh... we should probably check on Tyson." Max glanced from Ray to Hilary awkwardly.

Ray sighed. "Yeah, he's likely having a temper tantrum by now." Ray shook his head at his teammate's behaviour before turning back to Hilary to give her a quick hug and Mariah a kiss on the cheek. "We'll see you later."

"Ray! Wait!" Mariah called after them.

And then they were gone too.

Hilary sucked in her breath, fighting the tears - refusing to cry.

_'Happy birthday to me.'_

* * *

Kai watched from a distance in the shadows, as his girlfriend eased herself into the hot-spring. Nearly 3 am, she had made her way to the public pool sized hot-spring, unable to sleep. Kai knew many of their friends either crashed or were still partying; no one would be interrupting them.

She held Emberfae just above the surface of the water, sinking down until the water hit her chin, curling up and staring down at her black beyblade sadly. He had heard about her fight with Tyson from Tala and Jade. They both advised him to find her as soon as possible.

She had left the after party abruptly after the Blade Breakers left her alone with everyone. Jade had suspected she was off crying somewhere, and even Tala had to agree Kai's team was being insensitive towards her - especially on her birthday.

Kai sighed, he couldn't help but feel guilty; he had been avoiding Hilary too.

He was torn.

Every part of him was mad that Tyson lost to Hilary and not him. Kai couldn't believe it. How many years had he trained for this? How many years had he been chasing after Tyson's back? Kai wanted to be the one to finally beat Tyson - to claim the World Championship title as his own. Yet after all these years of trying, Kai suddenly felt weaker than ever before. He found himself helpless knowing Hilary could defeat them _both_ so quickly. How could he let it happen? How could he lose to Tyson every year, while Hilary won after just one try?

Tyson was an idiot for letting himself be distracted; he was always too cocky in battle. As much as Kai hated to admit it, upon hearing what had transpired, he knew Hiro was right. He agreed with Tyson's asshole brother, for once. Tyson was an egotistical idiot. It was his own fault he lost so quickly and so easily. Tyson was an open target and Hilary took the shot, just like Kai trained her to do.

Yes, Kai was angry at himself, but he was angrier at Tyson for losing.

But he couldn't quite stay mad at Hilary.

It was sexy.

Kai couldn't deny it; watching Hilary make her way up the female division to the top ranks, only to beat Tyson so easily - it was hot. She was so attractive while beyblading. Hilary was passionate in battle; somehow she looked even more beautiful when she beat them. The moment Kai realised he lost, and the moment Hilary realized she had won - something sparked within him. Hilary was robust and smart enough to outwit him and Tyson in one go. His girl was the new World Champion, and it was sexy as fuck.

Hilary had improved quickly over the years. Their nightly couple training sessions and her experience training with the best beybladers in the world gave her an edge no one saw coming. Hilary was the one who had brought the Blade Breakers back to the basics and retrained the team to master the MG core, and she had never touched a beyblade in her life. She had a natural ability to beyblade; she absorbed everything she studied to perfection. It was a natural skill neither he or Tyson had; a skill that took them years to master. But Tyson was not the only one to underestimate her.

Kai was guilty of that too.

He underestimated her. He always underestimated her.

Stepping out of the shadows, he slipped off the hotel robe to reveal his swimming trunks and slid into the warm water. The gentle lapping of the water caught Hilary's attention; she looked up to see Kai wading his way towards her.

She appeared apprehensive as he neared her. "Come to rip me a new one, too?" She exhaled uneasily, not moving.

Kai grimaced at her tone; she was hurting. He sighed, knowing this response was partly his doing. Reaching out, he pulled her up into a wet hug; Kai heard her gasp loudly. "Never." He murmured against her forehead. "Tyson's an idiot."

Hilary hugged him back tightly, relief washing over her. "You heard?"

Kai groaned as she pressed her face into his bare chest. "Tala and Jade had front row seats, of course I heard everything. And then some more of Jade's opinions on the matter." He sighed. Hilary smiled faintly and nodded in understanding. They both pulled away to sit on the edge of the spring; water lapping at their thighs.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

Hilary shook her head. "I don't know. Even Ray and Max are avoiding me, and Kenny won't even look at me. I don't know what I feel or what I _should_ feel. I mean, I was feeling really-..." Hilary trailed off, unsure if she should voice her real feelings out loud - she didn't want to hurt Kai either.

Kai grabbed her hand, intertwining their fingers; catching her eyes with his own. "Tell me what you're feeling, Hilary."

She cast her eyes to her lap, unable to voice her thoughts and meet his gaze at the same time. Instead, she squeezed his hand in hopes he would understand. "It felt incredible." She exhaled finally. "It felt really good to beat Tyson, to be called a World Champion. Having people say they are proud and congratulate me; everyone is looking at me differently now. I don't know why but-"

"They respect you. The acknowledge you as a beyblader now; that's what you are seeing." Kai smirked.

Hilary blushed, biting her lower lip and clutching her black beyblade to her chest in pride. "I feel like I finally understand you guys a bit more. I think I get it now... But I'm torn, because I'm starting to really like this feeling. I like the feeling of being the best, and I like knowing I just beat the best in the world. I'm such a hypocrite!"

Kai let out a breath he didn't realise he was holding. He could only stare at the beautiful brunette before him; clad only in her one piece black bathing suit, the tips of her hair still dripping water trails down her petite body.

His body was reacting on its own; reaching around with his free hand, he wrapped his fingers against the nape of her neck and pulled her up to meet his lips. They crashed together so passionately; it took Hilary off guard. She gasped as both his hands threaded through her brown locks, as he pulled her closer to deepen the kiss. He nipped and sucked at her lips, unable to control himself.

Hilary was already pressing herself up against his body - when the sounds from the fading party reminded her of their surroundings. She pulled away begrudgingly, staring up at the suddenly passionate Kai. "What was that for?" She asked breathlessly, "Not that I'm complaining."

"I love that you like being number one. Hearing you talk like that is possibly the sexiest thing I have ever heard you say." Kai grinned. Hilary was right; Kai truly was more perverted than Ray.

Hilary tried to hide her grin behind a scoff, failing. "Hiwatari, do you mean to tell me, world-champion-level beyblade skills is a turn on?"

"Only on you." Kai smirked, "Especially when you embrace it."

* * *

"There is no way I'm acknowledging _you,_ as the new World Champion! You have to beat me first!" Daichi yelled at Hilary, aiming his launcher at her. "I'm gonna be the best beyblader in Japan; not Tyson and certainly not you!"

Hilary was exhausted. She sat beside the beydish, catching her breath.

It had only been two days since her match with Tyson and Kai, but since becoming the new unofficial World Champion, the challengers for the title had come in droves. This was usually Tyson's problem, but suddenly it was hers. It felt like deja vu. Especially staring across at the monkey boy, who was giving her the same speech he gave Tyson 4 years ago.

Daichi would be her 25th challenger in the past two days. Most of the beybladers had been rookies and locals; she recognized many from Tyson's beyblading school. Winning each battle had been so easy - it surprised her at first. Hilary was holding her own and keeping hold of the title with ease; but after so many battles and in between training, Hilary was feeling it. She was tired and sore, and now Daichi was demanding a battle too.

"She needs rest," Kai said simply, stepping up beside her - glaring at the redhead.

"A World Champion never rests!" Daichi barked back.

"What's the matter, Hilary? Too tired to cheat?" Tyson's voice bit at her, she flinched and snapped her head back to glare at her friend.

Tyson, Max, Ray and Kenny were sitting off to the side of the beydish; they had been watching for hours as Hilary fought off opponent after opponent. Daichi had been watching too until he finally got fed up with the rookies. He wanted to test Hilary for real.

"That's enough, Tyson." Kai snapped back; he was fed up with his teams behavior towards his girlfriend. His glare landed on Max, who shifted uncomfortably - then Ray, who just looked away. If this had been any other day, they would have been defending her. "And what's _with_ you two? I expect this behavior from Tyson and Daichi, but _you guys_? Ray? Max? I thought you were Hilary's best friends; I honestly thought you were more mature than this." Kai sighed in disappointment. "And you guys said _**I**_ was the cold one here."

 _That_ got their attention.

"No, Kai, it's not-" Max faltered, he looked like a wounded puppy.

"Of course, she's our friend," Ray cut in, looking guilty. "But-"

"But what? You're all jealous because she beat Tyson?" Kai scoffed.

"No, that's not-!"

"Who would be jealous of a cheater?"

"Tyson, I said that's enough! If you don't shut the fuck up, I'll-"

"Forget it, Kai!" Hilary was back on her feet, glaring at her teammates.

Kai, startled, glanced back at his girlfriend to see her shaking in anger - or was it the fatigue or pain? "Hilary?"

She exhaled as she locked eyes with each of them, before settling her eyes back on Kai. "They still don't acknowledge me yet. I get it. I was just a tag-a-long who knew nothing of beyblades or bit-beasts, and now suddenly I'm the World Champion. I didn't really earn it." Max and Ray refused to meet her eyes, Kenny wouldn't look up and stared aimlessly into his laptop.

"But you all already accepted me as Blade Breaker long ago." She reminded them, "I love you boys, and whether you accept me or not, you are still my family. The Blade Breakers mean everything to me. That's why I'm going to fight whatever you guys throw at me and keep my place here. So when I beat Daichi, you'll all accept it right?"

Kai could only stare. Again, she left him speechless with her passion and her beauty. He fought the urge to kiss her again.

Both Max and Ray nodded.

"Like I'm gonna let you win!" Daichi scoffed, loading his Strata Dragoon and aiming it at the beydish. "The World Champion title is mine! Let's do this!"

Hilary exhaled, as she loaded her black beyblade for the umpteenth time that day. "Count us down, Kai."

"You've been battling nonstop all day today, you are in no condition to battle," Kai argued, he was going to yell at Kenny to back him up - but then she was staring into him with pleading eyes.

"Please. I have to do this."

Kai conceded, he could never win an argument with her.

"3... 2... 1 -"

"LET IT RIP!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> comments appreciated


	3. Blade Breaking

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DISCLAIMER:  
> Beyblade + Characters © Aoki Takao  
> Jade Tomei © Jade-55  
> Plot © mysticwater
> 
> AN: Needless to say, this chapter gets intense.
> 
> OWTF

Emberfae narrowly avoiding Strata Dragoon's attack, the black beyblade swerving around to the outside of the dish. They had been at it for a good 15 minutes, but Hilary was not letting up. She felt herself faltering under the pain of her body - but she refused to back down. She needed to remain diligent and patient until she found the right opening. It only infuriated Daichi further, the more she evaded him; his attacks quickly became more and more desperate.

Daichi's sheer strength of power was overwhelming; with every landed attack, she felt her body weaken. Hilary realized early on she couldn't attack him directly, but that didn't mean she didn't have her own ideas. She knew how to beat him; she had watched a certain cold blader do it many times before.

"ATTACK!" Daichi screamed again.

"Evade! Fly high, Emberfae!" Hilary shouted, ordering her blade up to the sky, Emberfae spread her wings as she soared above them.

"Follow her, Strata Dragoon!" The dragon chased after the firey-cat, his purple blade speeding upwards towards hers.

Exactly what she wanted him to do. "Now! Blazing Turbo!"

Kai smirked. He should have known she would use this tactic.

"No way!" Ray gasped. Both he and Max seemed to sense what was about to happen; they were on their feet staring up at the winged bit-beasts battling above, in anticipation.

Emberfae turned suddenly, using gravity to propel her blade faster towards Strata Dragoon; fire enveloping around her body and blade, as she blazed downward. "Look out! Fall back!" Daichi reacted too late.

A bright light and explosion of flames blinded them momentarily - the clash of blades echoing across the park, as the fireball slammed down into the beydish. Dust and debris billowed up and circled the dish, smoke settling around them.

Daichi's purple blade clattered out of the dish, no longer spinning. He looked up in astonishment to see Hilary call her spinning blade back to her palm, catching it with ease. "I- I lost..."

Hilary exhaled in relief; she won, she earned the title. Her knees buckled as she fell to the ground in exhaustion. But before Kai could react, both Ray and Max were at her side supporting her, finally. Kai felt his shoulders relax.

"Hilary! Are you okay?" Max gasped, kneeling beside her.

"That was incredible! How did you do that? That was Kai's attack pattern!" Ray exclaimed, utterly astounded at what he had just witnessed.

"I guess Kai's coaching has paid off?" Hilary chuckled lightly, sending Kai a small smile.

Kai nodded in approval. "You finally mastered the technique. You are a fast learner."

Hilary nodded before glancing back up at Max, "Are you still mad at me?"

Max shook his head profusely. "I was never mad at you, Hilary!"

"Then why have you boys been avoiding me?"

"Because you are a cheat." Tyson, who had remained silent, finally stood and glared down at her. "And you are _still_ a cheat if you have to use Kai's attack pattern to win!"

"Tyson, you know that's not true! That's not why! Hilary just showed us she has earned it! She clearly trained hard if she can beat Daichi!" Ray stood up to glare at Tyson evenly. "We were just feeling conflicted! It's hard to accept yourself when you realize someone is better than you; especially when we've been training our whole lives for this. That's why you are acting this way too, isn't it?"

Hilary looked up, glancing back and forth between the two. So that's why Ray and Max had been avoiding her. They felt ashamed.

Tyson was livid, shaking uncontrollably. Daichi stood and watched the scene unfold; he was exhausted and shocked, unsure what to say as he clenched his fists in his own frustration. Daichi really didn't expect Hilary to have improved this much. Maybe she really was stronger than Tyson now.

Ray was clenching his fists too; he wasn't standing for Tyson's behaviour anymore.

"She is _not_ better than me!" Tyson snapped.

"I understand how you feel, Tyson. We've been in your shadow for so long that we finally recognised that you are the better blader. It was just hard for us to accept that it was suddenly someone else in the spotlight. But now you are in Hilary's shadow; it's okay to be upset." Max said thoughtfully, looking up at his teammates, his hand not leaving Hilary's shoulder.

Tyson gritted his teeth as his glare snapped down to the blonde. "I'm _nobody's_ shadow! I won't agree to this! I refuse to be on the same team as a cheater!"

"What is that supposed to mean?!" Hilary gasped, she couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"I'm saying if you all plan to support Hilary as the _'World Champion,'_ then I will go solo!" Tyson said mockingly of the title, glaring at his friends with determination. "I have every intention of reclaiming the World Champion title! I refuse to lay back and let you have it just because you cheated! I'll defeat you _fairly_ at the World Championships, and then everyone will see! I'm going to remind the world what a _real_ champion looks like!" Tyson's glare landed back on Hilary one final time. "You don't deserve to be a Blade Breaker."

And with that, the bluenette spun on his heel and stormed away.

Hilary felt like she was going to throw up. The weight of his words hit her with such force, she was suddenly breathless.

"Don't listen to that idiot." Kai scowled, making his way over to Hilary. In a swift motion, he had her up in his arms and carried her to the bench. Kai was doing his best to keep Hilary from seeing how livid he was. He was going to triple Tyson's training instantly.

"I'm sorry." She mumbled as Kai eased her down. Embarrassed she was too weak to stand again; staring down at the black beyblade in her hand, thumbing at the bit-chip of her beyblade - seeking her bit beasts reassurance. But the warm glow, that crept up her palm to her fingers, wasn't enough to ease the pain in her heart.

"No, _we_ are sorry, Hilary." Ray sighed kneeling in front of her, taking her other hand in his, squeezing it gently. "We were selfish, only thinking of ourselves and we let Tyson bully you again."

Max sat beside her, "Yeah, it was just hard to believe how far you've come. I was really depressed... It felt like I hadn't improved at all."

Ray nodded in agreement. "I was blinded by my own selfish feelings too. We shouldn't have avoided you. Especially on your birthday."

Kai scoffed. About time, they get their heads out their asses.

"I'm sorry too, Hilary! I was the one that got jealous - that you could create such a balanced and powerful blade from scratch, without my help! I felt useless. It's better than anything I ever created for you!" Kenny admitted sadly, bowing deeply in regret. "And I felt bad for Tyson."

Although shocked that Kenny could ever be jealous of her beyblade mechanic skills, Hilary shook her head in understanding. "It's okay Kenny - I know you are Tyson's best friend."

"I didn't want to admit it either. It's bad enough I'm always losing to Tyson. So when he lost to you, I couldn't agree to it... But- you _did_ beat me fair and square. Tyson shouldn't be so mean anymore." Daichi stepped forward with a groan, rubbing the back of his head nervously. "What are we going to do about him? Do you think he'll _really_ go solo?"

"He will - if I stay on the team." Hilary sighed.

"Don't be ridiculous! We'll change his mind!" Ray said resolutely. "You don't have to quit!"

"Yeah! Even Tyson said it before; we are all a team!" Max nodded firmly, hoping to cheer her up.

"Even I have to admit, you proved yourself; beating all those bladers today, and then you beat Strata Dragoon while you're worn down too!" Daichi added, clearly still shocked he watched the brunette beyblade with such stamina; Hilary was no longer the rookie she used to be.

But Hilary knew she had a decision to make.

She recognized that look in Tyson's eyes. He was determined to beat her on an official level, and nothing - not even the Blade Breakers - was going to stop him. He was on a mission; a mission to destroy her unofficial standing. Hilary felt sick again.

Tyson was like her brother; maybe that's why she knew him so well. After all these years, he hadn't changed much. Even though he was a good head taller than her now, with broader shoulders and had grown more handsome over the years; Tyson was still Tyson, still childish and egotistical. Still the class clown he always was - despite the fact they all had graduated high school by now. She could predict Tyson's personality like clockwork; he made it easy.

She loved him of course, just as Hilary loved all the boys. But Hilary also knew if she hadn't met Tyson, she never would have met Kai or any of the Blade Breakers. He was the initial tie that brought them all together. Hilary accepted it; they had been a team long before _she_ arrived, but there was no Blade Breakers without Tyson.

It was _his_ team first.

Hilary finally understood why the Blade Breakers disbanded temporarily during the third World Championships. She didn't it understand before, so she exploded on them in frustration; she was naive then. They all wanted to be the best, to fight for themselves. They wanted to prove to Tyson that they could overcome the bar he set. That's what Tyson was doing now - however desperate it was - Tyson was fighting for himself now. Tyson wanted to raise the bar again.

Hilary realized she needed to do the same too.

She needed to fight Tyson at the World Championships, on the official stage; she needed to make him see she wasn't a cheap blader. She wanted to prove to Tyson - the idiot brother she loved - that she finally understood him now. But Hilary wasn't going to hand the title back over to him, not like this - not until he acknowledged her too. But above all else, she wanted to fight for herself; she wanted to keep the World Champion title.

The irony was not lost on her.

She would keep his title, but she wasn't going to keep his team from him too. That wasn't fair; she wouldn't do that to Tyson. She wouldn't let _him_ go solo.

She looked to Kai, who had been staring down at her while she was deep in thought, and reached out for his hand. "Kai..."

It was Kai's turn to 'know her so well'; he knew _that_ look, _that_ tone. He had watched the concern and guilt wash over her face; her expression shadowed in pain and strange determination. She had already decided; Kai felt his stomach drop, and his heart jumped up his throat, beating loudly in his ears.

" _No_!" He hissed out, trying to find his breath. He scowled as Hilary squeezed his hand gently as if trying to comfort him. "You are _not_ leaving this team just because Tyson is being an idiot!"

The rest of the team was echoing their leader, but Hilary shook her head sadly. "We all know how stubborn Tyson is. I refuse to let him go solo, just because of me. You guys are a team first."

" _You_ are our team," Kai said icily, anger getting the better of him. He couldn't believe they were having this conversation.

"So is Tyson. And he's the one who needs you guys. Remember how devastated he was when you all left the team four years ago? He's putting on a front right now because he's mad at me. But if I stay on the team and he goes solo, Tyson will be really hurt; I can't imagine what will happen to him." Hilary sighed sadly; she needed to convince them quickly - she was starting to feel sick upon realizing what this meant.

Desperation setting in, Kai called her out; he snapped his hand from hers angrily. "What happened to _'friends stick together'_? You gave, _all of us_ , shit for leaving you four years ago; why do you get to do the same now?!" He watched her flinch at his words, and Kai immediately felt guilty.

"Don't leave Hilary!" Max cried, hugging her.

"I'll talk to Tyson," Kenny assured her.

"You don't have to do this," Ray added solemnly.

But she did.

She looked up at Kai, who was glaring down at her incredulously. "I'm not leaving you guys forever. Just until I convince Tyson on my own, at the World Championships," She promised, taking Kai's hand again. "I still want you to train me in the evening like we always do. Nothing else will change."

As Hilary turned to the rest of the boys to say her final goodbyes and give them all big hugs, with promises to meet again soon; Kai turned them out of his mind. Max's sniffles and Ray protests fell on deaf ears. He could barely see Daichi breaking down too. Daichi was clinging to Hilary's other side, as she patted both him and Max on their heads soothingly.

Kai couldn't focus.

Hilary leaving them was something he never once considered possible. No matter how many times the Blade Breakers swayed - they came, they went and came back again - Kai always found solace in knowing Hilary would always be there, waiting for all of them.

Waiting for _him_.

She was his normal. Hilary kept Kai grounded and focused.

Hilary stood and turned to him, extending her hand out to him, she said in a quiet voice, "Walk with me."

He didn't want to imagine the Blade Breakers without her. But as Kai took her hand and followed her out of the park in silence, he knew...

Hilary was already gone.


	4. What The Girls Say

**NOTE:** The chapter title is a nod to an old beyblade AMV i made years ago of the same name. See video above

 

* * *

 

 

Kai followed her in silence, resignation seeping deep into his gut.

He followed her down to the sandy beach, not stopping until they reached their designated training beydish. The sun was setting over the calm sea; Hilary watched the sky blush shades of pink's and orange - eventually dissolving into the violet twilight; darkness settling around them.

"This is ridiculous." Kai finally let go of her hand and crossed his arms over his chest.

Hilary just gave him a sad knowing smile, "I'm not leaving **_you_**." She reminded him gently.

"You're leaving the Blade Breakers," Kai lowered his chin to glare at his girlfriend, as if to say it was all the same thing. "After I promised you I wouldn't let you be alone again? You and Tyson are both being ridiculous!"

Hilary laughed, almost bitterly, "Coming from _you_ and all the years of you fighting to beat Tyson?"

Kai bit his tongue. She got him on that one. He was the pot calling the kettle black.

"I guess you guys finally know how I felt during the Third World Championships." Hilary just shook her head with a sad smile, "But it's okay, I finally understand why you guys are like this. I'll be the hypocrite this time."

Hilary's stubbornness drove him crazy. "Hilary!" He needed to change her mind somehow; his fists clenched at his sides. "Don't do this!"

"Tyson made it clear already, this is the only way to prove to him I'm serious too. So let's not argue anymore," Hilary said firmly, before reaching into her pocket to pull our her blade and launcher. "Let's train for a bit, you look like you could use an outlet-" Hilary was cut off as Kai crossed the distance between them and grabbed her wrist firmly, stopping her launch.

Hilary was crazy, how could she think about training now?! She had been battling all day, her battle with Daichi pushed her into full-body exhaustion and now she wanted to train more? "Are you _trying_ to make me angry? How can you possibly think about training _**more**_?! I don't need anything!" Kai exhaled loudly as he glared down at her, "But you need rest-!"

As if on cue Kai felt Hilary's body weight shift backwards, falling back in heavy exhaustion - his grip still tight on her wrist - in one swift motion he jolted her forward into his chest and swept her up into his arms. "Do I need to say I told you so? I'm taking you home." He said firmly.

"I don't mind." She hummed. Kai blushed faintly as Hilary snuggled her nose against his throat, before resting her head on his shoulder.

The unspoken acknowledgement of change settled around them as he carried her to the apartment in silence.

* * *

Hilary woke up half past noon to Jade gently shaking her from her sleep. Kai had left an hour earlier, he had instructed Jade to let her sleep a while longer. Hilary really needed the rest. Kai had called Jade last night, so the Chinese blader was well caught up on the drama unfolding around her brunette friend.

Jade knew things were tense with the Blade Breakers since the Battle of the Sexes Tournament ended, but she never expected Tyson to go to this extreme. It had been awhile since she last saw Kai this distraught - he did a semi-decent job of hiding it from most people - but Jade wasn't like 'most people'. Kai was like her brother, and she could see he was struggling to cope. This was almost worse than Biovolt; Kai was beyond lost.

So Kai did the only thing he could think of - he called Jade the moment Hilary fell asleep and nearly begged Jade to help Hilary. He didn't even need to ask, though.

Hilary was one of the first female friend's Jade ever made. Until recent years Tala, Kai and the Blitzkrieg Boys were the only true friends she had; but it was thanks to Hilary that she met Mariah, Julia, Mathilda and Emily.

Like Kai, Jade would do anything for Hilary too. Many people would.

Hilary had a lot more support than she even realised.

"What's going on? Why are you here? Not that I mind, I've missed you." Hilary admitted with a sleepy grin, though she was clearly confused.

"Kai called and told me what happened last night. He figured you could use some, 'girl time with that girl talk and shopping or whatever it is you girls like,' as he so eloquently put it." Jade chuckled as she ruffled Hilary's bedhead before pulling back the blankets, "But I promise I have something way better planned than that! So get up!"

Hilary smiled and let out another yawn, "Speaking of," Hilary got up, making her way across the room to fetch some fresh clothes, as Jade bounced at the end of the bed slightly. "Where is Kai?"

"Off torturing Tyson by now, no doubt."

Hilary hid the pain, spearing through her chest, with a half smile. "Where are we going again?" She almost missed the mischievous grin on Jade's face as she pulled a clean black t-shirt over her head.

"Let's just say, we're going to your new destiny!"

* * *

Hilary couldn't quite believe her eyes.

Not only was she standing in front of a looked to be a huge gated mansion, located just a few mere stops outside the main city, but she and Jade was greeted at the gate entrance by Mariah, Julia, Mathilda and Emily.

It was hard for Hilary to focus on any one thing, so much was happening all at once.

There was beautiful ferns and weeping willows just beyond the gate, and was that a small creek she heard in the distance?

As Jade rushed forward to meet their friends Hilary noticed all the girls had suitcases and bags with them, set down on the pavement, as if waiting to be let into the wealthy property before them. None of what she was seeing made sense; Hilary could have sworn the girls had taken flights with their respected teams back to their homelands already to prepare for the World Championship Tournament.

"Hilary! Jade! About time!" Mariah engulfed them both in a hug, as Mathilda came around Hilary's other side to give her a hug too. "What took you guys so long?!"

"Sorry, Kai made me promise I would let her sleep in today. It took this sleepy-head longer than I anticipated~" Jade grinned sheepishly, nudging at Hilary accusingly.

"What's going on? What is everyone doing here? And where is _'here'_ exactly-?" Hilary was cut off as Julia stepped forward to ruffle the shorter brunette's hair.

"One question at a time, kiddo!" Julia laughed affectionately, "Jade called us right away last night and told us about Tyson forcing you to quit the Blade Breakers." She shook her head in disbelief, "We couldn't possibly leave you alone at a time like this!"

"Drastic times call for drastic measures!" Emily chimed in, pumping her fists with determination. "We all decided it's time for the girls to have their say! We are going to make that big idiot regret kicking you out!"

"Wh-what are you guys saying?" Hilary was so confused, they couldn't possibly mean that-

"We are going to be your new team, Hilary! It's the perfect plan, and it was actually all Mathilda's idea!" Jade said excitedly.

Mathilda blushed and shuffled her feet nervously, darting her eyes about as if looking for someone else, "It wasn't really my idea, it was-"

"But your other teams-" Hilary cut off Mathilda, none of this was making sense. Her brain found itself in auto-drive, she didn't know how else to cope with the weight of confusion on her mind. They all had other obligations and commitments - more important things and people to attend to - how could they just drop everything for her?

Emily scoffed lightly at Hilary's sweet and immediate concern, waving her right hand dismissively. "They are all totally fine without me while training in America. They have reserves up the ying-yang. Judy can handle it."

Mariah placed a reassuring hand on Hilary's shoulder. "They all understood. Well, Lee was a bit stubborn at first... but he gets it! Of course, none of us really want this new team to be anything but temporary. We, all of us and our teams, want to do our best to get you back to the Blade Breakers where you belong, Hilary. We all decided we're going do everything in our power to get you back there."

"The five of us, plus Emily as our reserve-blader and bey-technician, make the perfect team to support you at the World Championships! Thanks to you and Mariah winning the Battle of the Sexes we automatically qualify for a spot in the semi-finals!" Jade chimed excitedly, but then grinned wildly remembering her team's reaction to the news too, "I think Tala was jealous he has to do prelim qualifiers again and we get to skip the line!"

Was she hearing them correctly? She couldn't believe her ears now!

Hilary, Jade, Mariah, Julia, Mathilda and Emily... a team?

Hilary blinked as she tried to process the information.

But Julia swung her arm around her shoulders, walking her forward towards the towering gates of the property. "And as fate would have it, we found ourselves a sponsor and new coaches and this-" she made a grand sweeping gesture at the gate with her free hand, "our secret weapon!"

"Stealing my glory I see, Julia~" A new, yet familiar voice rang out from behind them; it was deep, raspy and distinctively playful."That's _**my** _ secret weapon, I'm _lending it_ to you beautiful ladies, for as long as you need it."

Hilary craned her neck back to see-

"Enrique?!" She gasped, her auburn eyes quickly darting about, taking in his tall figure; blonde hair and bright blue eyes- that baby face and devilishly handsome smile. He had grown taller over the years, wearing a stylish (and probably very expensive) black suede jacket with orange trim and his signature orange fingerless gloves. "What are **_you_** doing here?!" Hilary asked incredulously, watching him saunter towards her; Julia still hanging off her shoulders.

Enrique's playful smile softened ever so slightly, as a flash of rage feathered his expression for the briefest of moments. "I couldn't continue to call myself a real man if I ignored the appalling nature which my favourite lady was treated recently." The Majestic's hand found hers; he lifted it up to his lips to kiss it gently, just as he did every time he greeted her. Although they had only met a handful of times over the years, (the first being at that crazy house party Tyson hosted years ago), it was nostalgic and sweet; she was moved.

But still confused, she turned to face him fully - shrugging out of Julia's hold. "Why are you suddenly sponsoring-"

"Hilary, love." Enrique interrupted, clearly bemused at Hilary's utter astonishment at the situation. "Let's discuss details inside, shall we? I didn't buy this place just for us to admire the view from outside." He winked, flirtatious as ever.

"I thought this place belongs to Johnny and _you_ are the one borrowing it?" Emily sneered from behind; she never fell for his antics, not years ago and not now.

The Italian blader feigned dramatic heartbreak, "Oh Emily~ You wound me so! It took me forever to convince Johnny to let us have this place, let me pretend I could at least buy it for you girls!"

Mariah smacked Enrique's hand that was reaching out for Emily. "What do you think Emily? Should we tell Johnny what a _'prat'_ Enrique's being about this favour?" The pink catgirl slowly turned to give the Italian blonde a sinister look. "Shall I risk him kicking us to the curb, to watch him kick Enrique's ass instead?"

"Johnny's here too?" Hilary asked, shocked.

Enrique's strangled noise at the back of his throat as he imagined Johnny's wrath, was all the confirmation she needed.

"OK! No more questions!" Julia huffed; Hilary conceded as both Jade and Julia lead her by each arm.

The steel gates opened up to reveal the paved driveway lead up a small hill, winding up to the top of a grassy terrain. Carefully maintained squared hedges lined the long stairs leading up the center of the hill, built into the land in elevating platforms. At the first platform, the stairs split to the left and the right to wrap up and around to another platform leading to the entrance of - upon closer examination was nothing like a mansion- it was more like a small castle.

Hilary quickly learned not only was Johnny here, but all three of the remaining Majestic's were waiting for them in the entrance hall of the castle.

Oliver Boulanger was gorgeous as ever. Hilary rarely used that word to describe men, but Oliver definitely qualified. His long bright green hair framing his lilac eyes unchanging, and though his facial features had defined and chiselled in the past two years since their last meeting, his pale skin was smooth as ever. Although he was only a year older than Hilary, he had grown a head taller than her - he was still the shortest of his teammates! Wearing his favourite blue hat along with a blue and white jacket over a tight black tee paired with red fingerless gloves.

Johnny McGregor stood beside his Parisian teammate, he had probably changed the least of the group. Still sporting his usual arrogant scowl. With his thulian red hair spiked up, messily kept in place with a black headband. His fashion sense hadn't changed much, wearing a black vest with shredded collar, and his signature dark blue t-shirt with ripped sleeves. He was a true "man's man"; unrefined and powerful. His large muscular arms were crossed over his chest as he surveyed the girls in front of him. His violet eyes narrowed slightly as they landed on Enrique.

Then there was Robert Jürgens, the tallest of the group. Now at 22 years old, the German's features had hardened, though his eyes seemed to have softened as he met Hilary's gaze with his own. His purple hair was still slicked back, though noticeably longer. Robert was surprisingly dressed more casual than she remembered; a long sleeve dark teal turtleneck and black jeans - he stilled looked refined and poised as ever, though.

"Our guest of honour has finally arrived." Robert smiled gently. "Welcome to Lockheart Castle."

"It's great to see you guys again!" Hilary smiled back, still feeling rather dazed.

"Thanks again for this, Johnny. It's good to see you again." Emily stepped forward to shake his hand, he took it begrudgingly; though Hilary could have sworn she saw the faintest hint of a blush cross his cheeks as he watched Mathilda bow to him respectfully. He probably wasn't used to keeping female company.

"Yeah, yeah..." Johnny muttered back. "You too."

Oliver stepped forward, "We'll give you ladies a few hours to settle in and unpack before we start our training."

"Training?" Hilary blinked.

Mariah leant her arm on Hilary's shoulder, giving her a toothy feline grin. "Meet our new coaches! The Majestics!"

"Wh-what?!" Hilary spun to look at each of the older bladers before her. She knew they often didn't participate in tournaments or even the World Championships - not only did they struggle to get along as a team, they beybladed for honour and nothing else.

Enrique was suddenly pushing Mathilda forward, steering her with his hands on the back of her shoulders towards the center of the group. "It's all thanks to this cutie's genius idea!" He cooed affectionately, making the shorter girl blush brightly. "Oliver, Robert and I were hanging out with Miguel and his teammates when Mathilda got the call about Hilary. And she said she wished she could be Hilary's teammate right now so she could support her. That's how I got the idea to sponsor you lovely ladies! Coaching you was all Robert's idea, though!"

Hilary's heart clenched, she was so moved she wanted to cry, she looked to Mathilda who was red as a tomato. "Matty... thank you." Hilary said, truly touched.

"N-no, r-really... I didn't do anything... Robert and Enrique are really the ones-" She trailed off, bowing her head, hiding her flushed face with her pink bangs.

"Mathilda was correct, she also inspired this. Your friends should support you when you are dishonoured like this." Robert said suddenly, catching everyone's attention. "Tyson has always been an uncouth idiot, but this time he has gone too far. We will train you girls harder than you have ever had the luxury for. You will be levels above all the Blade Breakers, Hilary - you have the potential and we have the means to unleash it for you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter you learn the new team name! I have my own ideas but feel free to suggest some and I may choose it instead!
> 
> NOTE 1: Lockheart Castle, is a REAL place, located outside the village of Takayamamura in rural Gunma Prefecture. The castle was constructed in Scotland and then transported to Japan and rebuilt there. (The castle itself has been featured in many j-dramas like Yukan Club, Atashinchi No Danshi and Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge to name a few - feel free to look it up for reference). I am suspending belief that the castle is built closer to the Tokyo/main beyblade city but still on the outskirts of town- think Chiba area, if you know Japan at all.
> 
>  
> 
> PS - I've had this chapter partially written for months, took me awhile to figure out this new team and its coach/sponsor. I think I'm partly inspired from Yuri on Ice /brb dead/  
> But seriously, Majestics are bae AND they are some of the strongest bladers we know AND they all happen to be sexy and single! The perfect friction I need for all the pairings and one-sided stuff I have planned.
> 
> Expect sporadic updates on this fic in the near future


	5. Athanasia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> DISCLAIMER:  
> Beyblade + Characters © Aoki Takao  
> Jade Tomei © Jade-55  
> Plot © mysticwater
> 
> AN: long time no update = longer chapter as an apology. oops.   
> not beta'd though, you have been warned.
> 
> 2017 was a right bitch, was in a pretty bad car accident which has left me with chronic back pain, a struggle to find a proper recovery and other personal dramas, it wasn't a good year for me. That's all I can really say. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this long overdue update. Yup, I'm still keepin' on keepin' on!  
> x-posted on ff.net
> 
> Just another co-ed castle, what could go wrong?

 

Athanasia

* * *

It had been just over two weeks since they arrived at Lockheart Castle, it was beautiful and well beyond spacious.

Hilary learned the castle had been originally built in Scotland by Johnny's ancestors back in the 1800's, and it stayed there for generations before it was eventually brought over and rebuilt in Japan in the 1900's. With over a dozen individual master bedrooms, an extravagant dining hall, two swimming pools (one indoor, one outdoor), a sauna, and gym; there was no shortage of space or privacy for the 10 pro-bladers staying at the residence.

Including the main reason Julia and Enrique referred to this castle as their  _'secret weapon'_  - four very large customization battle beydishes; built to withstand the heat, power and destruction of their bit-beasts and equipped with each Majestic's individual and perfected training terrain in a large digitized training hall. There was also two outdoor beydishes beside a large swimming pool. Not to mention the new team had full access to all of the latest bey-technology, programs, digital analytics and VR simulations; Emily was in heaven, even Judy would be impressed, (and Hilary suspected Kenny would be hella jealous if he knew what she had to work with).

Robert made it very clear the training would be intense and Hilary specifically would be on a two-tier system, not only would she be training daily with her new teammates, focusing on basics and special attacks, learning each of her new teammate's strengths and weaknesses like never before. But Hilary would also be training privately - extra lessons so to speak - starting with one Majestic at a time, working her way up the ranks.

A lot had happened in the span of two weeks.

Their first night at the castle was no exception...

* * *

Kai had arrived much earlier than Hilary expected. He had called Jade around 8:30 pm upon realising the two girls still had not returned to his apartment, (after he got home from training Tyson into the ground no doubt). Jade had barely explained the 'new team' situation before Kai had abruptly hung up on her and subsequently arrived at the castle in 29 minutes flat. Jade was still miffed when he greeted them in the foyer.

Before Hilary could even ask her boyfriend if he had brought her some clean clothes, Kai was rounding on his childhood friend, matching Jade's moody glare with his own trademark scowl. "What the actual  _fuck_ , Tomei? I told you to give her some shopping therapy or something, not excavate her from my apartment for some pseudo-team!" Kai was nearly breathless, she suspected from rushing to get here, but also because he was livid - his fists were vibrating again. But before Hilary could come to Jade's defence, the Majestic's had sauntered in upon hearing the loud commotion.

"Always a pleasure to see you, Kai. However, while you're a guest in our residence I would ask you not insult our very  _real_  team." Hilary jumped at Robert's tone, a veiled threat; a warning Kai did not appreciate nor fully understand yet.

"What the hell are you talking about? Forget it! I don't actually care." Kai forced himself to ignore the purple-haired German, as he turned to Hilary. "This is ridiculous. Let's get out of here, we have our training to do."

"That won't be necessary anymore, Kai. I already have plenty planned for her without your help."

"Thanks, but no thanks. She's my girlfriend and it's my responsibility as her team captain and coach-"

" _I'm_  her coach, now," Robert interjected firmly at Kai's flippant attitude. "As I remember it, you allowed a certain uncouth idiot-child to kick Hilary off your team. It's only obvious that such lack of team control and low-grade 'coaching' is no longer needed."

"My what!?" Kai baulked, he was boiling on the inside - but the guilt slapped him in the face so hard, he was fighting the red flush of embarrassment rushing up his neck.

"None of this is Kai's fault, Robert," Hilary said firmly without even a second thought, glancing back at the Majestic's who all mirrored Robert's disgust with the situation. "Kai didn't agree to it, I left on my own."

"Nevertheless, I would advise you worry about the vile peasant you call a teammate and how you plan on  _coaching_  such a disgrace, while I'll focus on training the one I deem worthy." Robert was suddenly standing directly behind her. Hilary felt as he placed his left hand down on her right shoulder in emphasis. "Because soon, neither of you will be able to keep up with her."

But Kai had stopped listening the moment Robert squeezed her shoulder; his hand shot out in reflex, grabbing Robert's wrist with an iron grip and roughly twisted it away from Hilary. "She's still  _my_  girlfriend," Kai growled, his last warning. The German snapped his hand away, brushing the skin of his wrist on the fabric of his turtleneck as if contaminated by Kai's touch.

"Ah, yes... Yet another job you are lacking at." Enrique snarled from across the room, Hilary noted how he had strategically positioned himself behind Julia and Oliver; he had probably guessed Kai was ready to swing his fist at any moment.

Robert tilted his head with a smug smirk, dropping his 'contaminated' hand to his side. "For once, I agree, Enrique. He did let some peasant dishonour his girlfriend."

Before Kai could charge forward, his eyes flashing - Hilary immediately took to his side, pushing him back towards the french doors. "Oh-kay! There's no dishonour here! That's enough for now, let's go back and gather my things and cool down a bit." And before Kai could argue, she quickly turned her head back to Robert, who seemed slightly amused but definitely watched Hilary's reaction closely. "I'll be late for training. Don't wait for me today. I promise to make it up tomorrow morning." She added quickly.

Robert let a slow smirk touch his lips as his eyes darted back to meet Kai's livid expression, lifting his head slightly in triumph. "That you will, my lady."

"Like hell sh-" Kai's voice got lost in his throat as he felt a discreet hand gently squeeze at his lower waist, one of his sensitive spots - one only Hilary discovered by accident, a few nights after she repaired his Dranzer years ago.

Hilary was giving him a pleading look as she guided them both out the foyer doors, pulling them shut quickly behind her. The cold wind of the evening reminded her to let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding.

Hilary exhaled and took another deep breath to steady herself before looking back up at Kai.

"Don't be mad," She whispered desperately, tugging at him to follow her down the steps, trying to gain as much distance from the Majestics as possible. Proximity wasn't on her side. "I can't turn this down, Kai. You know I can't."

"Sure you can, I'll do it for you." Kai almost turned on his heel, but the stricken look in her eyes kept him in place.

Why does she do this to him? It's worse than Max's puppy-eyes.

Kai bit at his cheek.

She stepped forward, her hands reaching out to his shirt to tug it gently. "Kai, please. You know this is the only way I can fight Tyson on an official level, I have to or -" Hilary's words came to an abrupt inhale, her eyes widening as she stared up at him. Both Kai and Hilary sudden felt a wave of  _deja vu_  hit them as the familiar words left her lips - reverberating in their memories. Hilary let out a bitter laugh despite herself, lowering her gaze down to her hands. She let out a guilty exhale, "Oh god, I sound like _you_."

Kai's shoulders sank; his girlfriend suddenly a mirror image of his former self. He knew exactly how she was feeling right now, and no amount of arguing or denying would change it. Hilary was suddenly standing in his shoes and there was nothing he could do to move her from them. That would be like denying himself.

He suddenly felt far away from her, in a way he hadn't noticed until it was too late. She was unreachable. Is this how Hilary felt when the Blade Breakers split and went their separate ways? Even if she could understand the reasons why they left, there was still a feeling of helplessness all the same. Kai felt it now. Without warning or notice, he was alone and she was untouchable.

Kai wasn't just staring down at Hilary, he was seeing her completely for the first time; beneath the guilt and worry, there was something new but very familiar. Kai couldn't shake his unease as the sickeningly familiar desperation that radiated off her trembling hands fisted at the ends of his shirt washed over him like a tidal wave. He knew  _exactly_  what she was feeling now, he felt it all before. This is not what Kai wanted for her, but somehow this was what she needed now.

He let out a long sigh, his arms wrapping around her, pulling her in close to his body. Trying to close the distance he felt between them but couldn't see; it wasn't working the way he wanted, but still, he held her tighter - catching her off guard. Hilary stumbled up a step, into his chest.

Hilary was all he had and he felt like he was losing her all over again.

"I'm sorry," Kai mumbled into her hair, pushing his nose down into her neck - inhaling her scent. He missed her.

Hilary instinctively wrapped her arms back around him too, in part to stabilize her self, but mostly because she was glad he wasn't angry anymore. "For what? I'm the one being a hypocrite."

Kai scoffed at the irony. "That makes two of us... I'm sorry I've made things this way. I didn't want this to happen to you. I didn't want to turn you into me. That's the last thing I would ever want. I couldn't protect you from this, Robert wasn't wrong..."

"No," Hilary pulled back and quickly jumped up a couple steps so she was slightly above eye level with him. Looking down at him she shook her head in disagreement, her arms wrapping around Kai's neck. "Robert  _is_  wrong about that. You may be the Team Captain, but the Blade Breakers start and end with Tyson, even you know that. I chose to step away." Hilary smiled almost sadly, Kai could tell part of her still hated this too. Of course, she didn't want to leave them.

Hilary continued, turning her head slightly to motion back at the castle. "The girls chose to form this team. All of this was a lucky accident of a shitty circumstance. You have always been an amazing coach, I learned everything I know from you and the boys. I wouldn't be here, without you." She paused a moment as if remembering something. Kai wanted to argue, to tell her that was his point! It  _was_  his fault- but then she smiled as she met his gaze again and he lost his words, dying on his lips.

Hilary spoke again, more firmly now. "Do you remember, years ago? After we got off that island and learned about the MG Core? You convinced Tyson that I deserved to be at your side after he ripped my training schedule I made for you guys... You fixed it and proved him wrong. If you hadn't of done that... I would have walked away from the bey-world forever. But I'm different now, I can convince Tyson myself this time."

The distance between them now made Kai's heart ache, she was already this far ahead. The edge of too far away - he would never reach her at this rate. A million thoughts racing through his head, the feeling of helplessness squeezed at his insides. Kai's hand reached up, the need to cross the space between them heavy on his chest - his fingers brushed through her hair, pulling it back behind her ear. His left hand coming back to cup her cheek, while his right arm snaked around her waist.

"Just don't stray far from me." She felt him whisper the confusing words on her lips, as he pulled her tight against his body, bringing her down for a passionate kiss.

_'The Majestics must have really riled him,'_  Hilary could only gasp in thought as Kai attacked her lips, before sweeping her up off her feet and into his arms, bridal style. "Kai!"

"Home. Now. I have a cab waiting outside the gate." Kai breathed heavily, as he quickly and rather effortlessly made his way down the stairs, keeping Hilary tight in his arms. "You told them, morning practice. Tonight you're mine." His voice was suddenly gruff and almost stoic - it reminded her of their first meeting 5 years ago and it unsettled her slightly.

Everything in-between felt like a blur.

One minute she's getting kissed on the stairs of Lockheart Castle, the next she's swept off her feet and rushed down the platforms and stairways to the main gate- and into the back seat of a waiting cab. Hilary barely remembered the ride home; she vaguely remembers how Kai suddenly held her body up against his chest, taking the opportunity to kiss and suck at her neck. A frenzied (-and embarrassing, if she thought too hard about the cab driver probably noticing-) blur of electrifying kisses and heat. She felt like she was on fire, her entire body tingling in a strange cold heat.

Then as she stumbled back through the door of his apartment, she vaguely wondered if Dranzer had taken over his body again, the heat was intense; but the thought was quickly lost in their mouths, as Kai urgently pushed her towards the bedroom.

Kai quickly discarded his scarf, tossing it across the room with a heavy 'thud' - as he turned to make quick work of her cardigan, pulling it down over her shoulders as he attacked her neck with kisses. They hadn't been this passionate... this intimate together since the evening Kai beat Max at the Third World Championships - when the new couple had gone a week without contact. Years ago while the Blade Breakers were still enemies, each vying for the World Champion title against Tyson.

Another uncomfortable wave of  _deja vu_  hit Hilary again as the phoenix prince led her gently down onto his bed.

Though the roles may be reversed this time, they would be enemies, yet again. But it seemed Kai had no intention of slowing down this time.

Hilary blinked through the fog of passion, looking up at a topless Kai and back down at herself, now left in her underwear-

* * *

"Can't we be the 'Majestic Girls' instead?"

Her ruby eyes widening as Hilary jolted out of the passionate memory, blushing faintly, as she came to her senses - glancing around at her surroundings. The two resident redheads were arguing, again (this had become the norm over the past two weeks - the firey tempered bladers were almost always at odds). This time aruging about the team name, and slowly but surely everyone was putting in their two cents.

"Robert already decided, you are the 'Athanasy Blades' now!" Johnny snapped back, waving his hand at Jade aggressively.

Jade was in his face, not backing down; she wanted her way for once. "At least 'Majestic Girls' sounds more feminine! I'm so sick of being a Blitzkrieg BOY!"

"I'd have to agree with Jade on this one, 'Majestic Girls' does have the potential for much better branding." Emily hummed in agreement from the sidelines; she and the other girls had been watching this discussion boil and escalate to a yelling match. They must have been arguing for awhile but Hilary couldn't be sure for how long with how distracted she had found herself.

Johnny snarled with disgust at the thought, "The Majestic name is not a brand! We fight for honor, not glory!"

"And we are not promo models for the Majestic's, we are our own team." Julia who had remained silent until now, finally turned to glare at Emily, gesturing at the girls in emphasis. Mariah nodded vehemently in agreement, while Mathilda stood awkwardly behind Johnny, ducking her head as the voices rose.

"Well if we are our 'own' team, why can't we choose our own team name?!" Jade was not giving up.

"You're not the Majestic Girls and that's final!" Johnny huffed, waving a hand dismissively at the other redhead, before turning to look at the pink-haired girl behind him. "C'mon Mathilda lets train downstairs, I cant focus with Tomei's insanity."

Jade, of course, immediately took offence to this. "Just because you are helping us train, doesn't make you the leader!" The Chinese-blader snapped at Johnny's back, her nose scrunching as she glared at him.

Johnny turned his head to meet her glare, but before he could retort back at the female redhead, Robert finally stepped forward; clearly annoyed with all the bickering. "No, but I am. I will allow you girls to choose your own team name, so long as you get it approved by me first." Robert said evenly, staring hard at both the redheads as if daring either to argue further.

Jade seemed willing to relent, despite the requirement of Robert's approval. Johnny, however, looked as though he was biting at his own cheek, still glaring hard at Jade. Hilary had an idea, she slowly stepped forward.

"What about 'Athanasy Girls'? Compromise it?" Hilary asked hesitantly.

There was silence.

Hilary wondered if she should have just kept quiet as she glanced at the stunned expressions of her teammates and friends. Her stomach flinched at the anticipation of the yelling and arguing to continue. Despite herself, Hilary's eyes locked with Robert's; his expression caught her off-guard. He had a subtle smirk on his lips. Was that a smile? And his eyes gleamed with... approval?

"I'll accept that." Robert's smile faded as he turned his eyes away from hers, glancing around at the rest of her team. "Any objections?"

Mariah was suddenly grinning, "I'm down. It sounds pretty badass, like us."

"I like it." Julia echoed.

Jade was nodding, "I can work with that."

There was a murmur and nodding heads of agreement from Emily and Mathilda too. Enrique and Oliver just shrugged, while Johnny rolled his eyes.

Hilary's body visibly relaxed upon realizing that was a crisis averted. She didn't expect that to go as smoothly as it did, with how heated everyone had been moments before.

A gentle hand suddenly landed on top of her head, she turned and looked up to see Robert with that subtle smile again, his expression was softer but his voice was loud enough for everyone to hear. "As expected of our Team Captain."

Hilary nearly squeaked. "What?!"

How long had she been daydreaming about Kai? Did she miss something important?

"You are the one who beat Tyson after all, plus you are clearly a natural at defusing and resolving inter-team disagreements. I saw it more than enough during your time with the Blade Breakers. It will be interesting to see how those boys fair without you. These girls clearly need a proper leader; you more than qualify as one." Robert's voice was even in the matter of fact, but there was a softness in his tone.

Hilary felt herself blush at his compliment and his acknowledgement of her impact on her former team before she heard the cheers of agreement from her friends behind her.

Jade crossed the distance and placed an encouraging hand on Hilary's shoulder, "It's only fitting Hil's, you  _are_  technically the current World Champion."

Hilary blushed. "Not officially-" She tried to protest but felt Robert's gentle hand on her head again.

"Not  _yet_. But you will be when we are done here." Robert's tone had a hint of smugness as if he knew things the others didn't. He turned to look at Jade and Enrique. "You two come with me, we are starting Hilary's intensive training tonight and I need your skills for what I have planned." His gaze shifted to Oliver, "Oliver I want you to train with Mariah and Julia in the Digital Hall and I want Emily to help with the technical aspects and study the statistic reports from the observation room." He finally turned to Johnny, who was still half sulking about the name change. "Johnny, focus on Mathilda's endurance and stamina, she will need some guidance I imagine."

Everyone seemed to nod; except Johnny who scoffed and rolled his eyes before turning and grabbing Mathilda by her arm to drag her towards the Digital Hall, probably so he could get the first pick of the beydishes. Mathilda just blushed faintly and ducked her head as she followed in silence, Oliver and the other girls not far behind.

Robert turned back to Hilary, Jade and Enrique once more, his expression even. "We will start off in pairs on the terrace beydishes. Enrique, you will be teaching Hilary your clone technique. Focus on utilizing the right-spin gear for the dual offensive tactics. Once she has the basics down, given if there is time, you can coach her more about power strategy." Robert was about to turn back to Jade when Hilary stepped forward slightly.

"If there's time?" Hilary asked worriedly.

Robert smiled slightly, again. "I'm giving Enrique and you an hour before I will have Jade join him and have her battle you as well; two clone techniques at once. One hour should be more than enough for you to get the basics."

Hilary balked, even Enrique looked a bit nervous at the time limit. "One hour?! How am I supposed to learn a totally new technique and use it effectively in a 2-on-1 battle after only  _one hour_?!" Maybe this wasn't the best idea, she was going to die of pure exhaustion before she ever had the chance to battle Tyson again.

"After spending so many years with the Blade Breakers and how quickly you picked up the sport, I think you might surprise yourself. Of course, I don't expect you to use the technique effectively right away, but I do have a strong suspicion that you will learn it quickly too. You seem to have a natural talent to absorb what you learn and replicate with ease." Robert explained as he led the group outside to the terrace, the two beydishes situated a fair distance from either side of the pool, opposite to one another.

"I wouldn't go that far, it's not a natural talent by any means- it was hard, especially in the beginning." Hilary shifted slightly on her feet.

"But that was because you didn't have the right beyblade to accommodate your bit beast, right?" Jade finally chimed in, remembering things she heard from Kai.

"Exactly. That is why we will be upgrading all of your equipment over the next few weeks. Emily will use the data to help modify and enhance your beyblade and launcher to support what you learn here." Robert said matter-of-factly. "This is just the start of a very long and intensive training module I have planned for you especially, Hilary. It won't be easy and I don't expect drastic improvements overnight. But as I said before, when we are done here you will be levels above all the rest. We have to restore your honor, after all."

Enrique swung his arms over Jade and Hilary's shoulders with his famous a Cassanova grin. "And you have the best coaches and the best team available to help you.  _'For honor'_  as Johnny likes to say~" Enrique quickly took Hilary's hand into his own, bringing it up to his lips for a kiss. "This knight will lend you his blade, my lady." His suave tone made Hilary blush faintly.

Jade grinned too and poked at Hilary's side, "As my lady's best friend, you also have my blade~" She teased, mimicking Enrique's tone as she caught Hilary's free hand to kiss it too; Hilary's blush flushed from faint pink to deep scarlet as the two pairs of lips pressed at the back of her hands.

"YOU GUYS!"

* * *

Intense was a word for it.

After spending an interesting hour with Enrique and his flirty antics, she was able to follow his movements and tried her hand at a new launch tactic to enhance her spin speed. Enrique was ever the Cassanova, his hands would guide her hips just so, then they would move up and around her arms to adjust them into perfect angles and degrees - Hilary found herself blushing despite herself. This was very normal for the Italian blader, suave and flirtatious in his playful nature but it was still flattering and embarrassing at times regardless of her knowing better. Ever the harmless playboy.

Hilary was surprised with herself at how fast she learned Enrique's launch technique, they were able to quickly move her focus to speed up her blade to a point where a clone of her blade was visible for a short time. Nowhere near as exhausting as she first anticipated.

"See, it's as I told you, M'lady. I  _am_  the best teacher." Enrique had drawled as he circled her, eyeing her up and down. Smirking playfully before taking a step into her space as he leaned in close. "And as expected, my favourite student pay's such  _close_  attention." Enrique had whispered in her ear, making her blush again.

Meanwhile, Jade and Robert had spent the hour across the large pool from them, battling too; Robert was training Jade's Dazzler beyblade in endurance and strength, repetition was his key. Enrique had just started training Hilary on power strategy and how to apply it to Emberfae when Robert instructed the group of them to follow him to the Digital Hall, the hour of prep was up. Her training would continue with Enrique and Jade there instead.

That's where things escalated.

Robert told the other teammates to move to the terrace beydishes and continue their training there while he got Emily to prepare the digital-dish. From the reinforced window of the observation room, Emily nodded and moved her fingers across the glass and swipe up the screen, activating something.

With the grinding of gears and whirring of hardware, Hilary watched as the four large beydishes (recently abandoned by her other teammates) sank down into the ground, disappearing into metal trap doors in the floor below. Simultaneously, from the middle of the other descending four, a larger titanium beydish slowly began to rise up at her feet. The lights dimmed as multiple coloured lasers and digital holographic displays of various codes and information appeared around them, circulating in a large radius around the beydish.

Breathless, Hilary barely had time to take in and appreciate the virtual reality technology and scrolling information around her before Robert instructed her to face off against Enrique and Jade together. Compare to Hiro's coaching style, Robert wasted no time.

The combination of Enrique's overpowering twinned Amphilyon clones paired with Jade's evasive six clones of Dazzler's Shadow Mimic technique instantly made Hilary falter quickly after their first launch. But Robert was relentless and made sure Enrique and Jade kept up the intensity for several hours.

Emily never moved from the observation room, she had been tirelessly calculating the input being recorded by the virtual displays around them. Multiple systems worked in tandem, inputting everything from the each of the beyblades fluctuating stats - to each of the bladers launch techniques with HD slow-motion capture - to monitoring Hilary's vitals and Emberfae's power levels. Emily made sure to use the intercom to relay every single mistake and weakness she observed back to Robert, who in turn coached Hilary how to correct it.

It took 3 full hours of studying Enrique and Jade's tactics and techniques, adjusting each correction and over-correction with each battle - which was essentially nearly a dozen eight-on-one battle's - before Hilary was finally able to last long enough to summon enough speed to bring her own beyblade to mirror itself into a clone.

Strangely though, once she got it, she got it.

6 hours in and Hilary had managed to find both Jade and Enrique's real beyblades amongst their clones; within moments she had knocked them both out of the beydish.

Hilary's knees buckles as she collapsed to the floor, or she would have but Robert was already two steps ahead of her as he caught her waist before scooping her up in his large arms with ease, much like Kai did last week.

"I think we can call it a night." Robert said firmly, glancing over at Jade who was leaning heavily against Enrique, before back down at the brunette in his arms. It was more of an order than a statement. Hilary couldn't fight the heated blush that crept up her neck as Robert smiled down at her knowingly. "Would you look at that? I was right." The _'again'_  was implied, Hilary was exhausted but she didn't miss the implication in his tone.

Of course, he was too chivalrous to say  _'I told you so'_ , but the point was there, threaded between the lines.

Hilary just sighed and nodded in resignation, but really- she was proud of herself.

Robert  _was_  right.

She never in her wildest dreams of beyblading expected to ever be able to fight two pro-beybladers on her own and win like that. Training with the Blade Breakers felt like a breeze in comparison, Hiro never gave them training or proper lessons anywhere close to this. It was a completely new and advanced way of approaching beyblading.

Tired as fuck or not, there was no denying these results.

Robert barking orders shook Hilary from her thoughts. "Enrique, escort Tomei to her room, you can both rest for the night; I'll handle our World Champion. Emily, can you call ahead and have our staff draw a hot bath in Hilary's room, also make sure they prep some hot tea and analgesics for her? She's going to need it."

Robert was right, again.

* * *

Hilary sunk deeper into the large tub, hot water washing over the edge of the basin, lapping around her shoulders. Her whole body ached, every single muscle tightened and burned with the slightest of movements. Waiting for the painkillers to kick in felt like an eternity.

She exhaled loudly, leaning her head back against the porcelain, trying to focus on anything but the pain. Hilary knew things were only going to get more tiring from here.

Robert made it clear she would be spending the next two weeks in an intensive training module, exclusively with Enrique and Jade - focusing on her speed and power control of the clone technique. Her next intensive module would start after a short "4-day break", which couldn't even qualify as a "break" as it included training with the rest of the Athanasy Girls for a more standardized training program. Robert was a strict coach, but every instruction came with carefully planned execution and reason.

Her cell phone buzzed a few times from its place upon the towels on the toilet beside her, indicating she had messages waiting.

Hilary reached over, wiping her hands dry on the towels and opened up the LINE app to see what the girls had been gossiping about now. She leaned her head on the edge of the tub languidly, lazily scrolling through the convo.

**Jade:**  You okay Hils? Robert was fierce today.

**Julia:**  He can't be THAT fierce, he's always nicer to Hilary.

**Mariah:**  OMG! I noticed that too! He only smile's at her or if she's around! Otherwise, he's Mr Stoic-pants. :|

**Jade:**  True... But if Enrique was complaining about how sore and tired he was, and I feel like I was hit by a truck... Hilary must be feeling ten times worse than us. Just saying.

"What?" Hilary gasped out loud to herself, frowning in disbelief at how crazy her friends were; before quickly typing out a reply.

**Hilary:**  What are you guys talking about? Robert smile's at other people too, not just me. He's not a mean guy by nature anyway. If anything he was super strict with me today... UGH! But yeah, I'm so sore. I feel like death... RIP me

**Mariah:**  Name one person you have seen him smile at in the past 24 hours that wasn't you?

**Hilary:**  Uh, Mathilda? At lunch today. :P

**Julia:**  Mathilda doesn't count, she's cute as fuck? ❤

**Mariah:**  Yeah! EVERYONE smiles at her, including Johnny - and he's Mr Grumpy-pants!

**Mathilda:**  That's not true... :$

**Julia:**  You know its true, Matty. Don't even.

**Jade:**  Now that you mention it, I've never seen Johnny get mad at Mathilda. He's always super patient with you, Matty! You're like everyone's kryptonite!

**Mathilda:**  Do you need anything Hilary? It sounds like you were really worked hard today... I heard Robert gave your beyblade and launcher to Emily to work on, then he instructed all of us to leave you alone so you can sleep.

Hilary smiled, she knew Mathilda was partly deflecting the conversation away from herself and back at Hilary, but she knew the younger pink-haired girl was worried about her. She obliged and switched gears with her.

**Hilary:**  Yeah... I'm just too sore to sleep yet. I'm still in the bath, waiting for the pain meds to kick in.

**Emily:**  Yes, I have them. Sorry girls I just saw these messages now. I'll likely be up all night so if anyone needs anything come knock on my door. Get some rest Hilary ❤ Robert says you will do light training tomorrow, so don't stress too much. We want you to focus on stretching and cardio to make sure you don't get too sore as we go forward.

Well, that was good news. Hilary felt mildly relieved by this.

**Jade:**  Don't stay in the bath too long, you could give yourself a migraine after all that training today. I'll tell the staff to bring you some ice too, better to alternate.

Jade had a point, Hilary did feel the beginnings of a headache beginning to crawl up the back of her head. She should force herself to get out of the tub now. She smiled as she typed out a reply.

**Hilary:**  Thanks girls ❤ Yeah, I'll get out now. I'll message you guys later if I still can't sleep.

* * *

But Hilary did sleep.

And damn did she need it. She would have kept sleeping too if there hadn't been an unfamiliar shifting of her mattress behind her.

Hilary had trained herself over the years to be more perceptive as she slept, Biovolt had left her with some post-traumatic stress and Kai had a habit of leaving her in the middle of the night without a word. It seemed Hilary's brain would no longer allow her a deep sleep, no matter how tired she was - maybe it was more of a scar, but she liked to think she had control over it anyway.

Groaning loudly from the pain that screamed through every muscle and joint of her limbs and torso, Hilary slowly forced herself to turn over - her mind still groggy from the exhaustion and her body still stiff and burning from the expended adrenaline. The room was still dark, how long had she been sleeping?

Not long enough.

The pain meds had worn off and the wave of pain that hit her as she roused left her whimpering. Her eyes bleary from the interrupted sleep as Hilary tried to focus on the figure looming above her.

She felt her stomach drop, her heart pounded in her ears as she tried to make sense of her surroundings. The panicked scream that bubbled up from her throat was cut silent as a strong hand clamped down over her mouth.

Hilary couldn't fight it even if she had the energy to try.

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: I finally found a way to end this chapter that didn't feel stale. Go me! I don't know what I'm doing half the time lol its been forever since I've written anything proper. I actually had a good portion of this chapter written for most of 2017, gotta love writers block.
> 
> Gotta love that training montage koz I'm too lazy to write out every single training battle for the next several weeks for these girls, so you'll be seeing more of those.
> 
> Also look, beybladers have access to VR technology and have cell phones with apps like LINE! For the sake of brevity, even though Untouchable was originally published in 2004 (and the original anime itself in 2001), I'm bringing this story setting into 2018. Man, I'm old... so is this series.
> 
> Reviews/Comments greatly appreciated!  
> xoxo


	6. Reflections of Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> DISCLAIMER:  
> Beyblade + Characters © Aoki Takao  
> Jade Tomei © Jade-55  
> Plot © mysticwater
> 
> AN: If you are still reading this in 2018 I applaud you and love you all! It's a slow crawl, but my brain won't leave this couple alone. My original OTP. Not beta'd though, apologies in advance.
> 
> OWTF

 

* * *

Reflections of Home

* * *

In the weeks that followed Hilary's departure, the Blade Breaker's were slowly feeling the heavy loss and burden that Hilary once shouldered for her team. Not only had Kai tripled all of their training hours, heavily adjusted their diets and restricted their curfews - Kenny was also beginning to struggle with the workload of repairing and upgrading the teams beyblades while balancing his time with research, recording and review of each day's training sessions.

Normally Kenny had shared that burden with Hilary upon her becoming savvy enough with the tools of the trade. She could easily repair and upgrade her own and her boys beyblades without much effort; she had come to know each of their beyblades and requirements just as well as Kenny did. But without Hilary around to help him maintain his work balance, the Chief was quickly becoming overrun and overworked with Kai's demands of the group.

If Tyson was struggling under the new rules and regulations Kai had set, he didn't show it - he was taking everything in stride. In fact, he seemed more willing and determined than ever to train his butt off and not complain about the lack of sleep or fatty foods he was allowed. Hilary's unofficial standing as World Champion seemed to have struck a chord in him that inspired a surge of motivation neither Kai, Max or Ray had seen from the Dragoon wielder since the ordeal with Brooklyn and Biovolt.

But Tyson's blinding motivation - coupled with Kenny's exhaustion and Kai's bitter aggression - came at a price. Max looked miserable every day, Ray seemed to function on autopilot, and even Daichi had quickly fallen quiet and passive; a heavy aura of gloom settled around the Blade Breakers as the days without Hilary fell into weeks.

Meals were eaten in silence, and the conversations (if you could call them that) were minimal unless tactics needed adjusting during training and battles. There was no laughing, no joking - and certainly, no weekend picnics or BBQs - the ones Hilary often organized to help her boy destress at the end of a long training week.

Even Kai noticed the tension building.

"What the fuck Chief!?"

He didn't expect it to snap so quickly though.

Kai glanced up from spotting Daichi's situps to see Tyson recalling his Dragoon to his hand from his battle with Max and Draciel. Ray stopped mid-pullup to the left of Daichi on the park's monkey bars to follow Kai's gaze - as Tyson stormed over to the smaller boy sitting on the bench. From this distance, Kai could see Kenny's head nodding forward against his laptop. Was he falling asleep?

"Chief! Wake up! You are supposed to be tracking our RPM! We need to - damnit Kenny! What's wrong with you, bud?!" Tyson was shaking Kenny's shoulder roughly now, rousing him from the sleep that had pulled him out of his work.

Kenny yawned but quickly blushed as he looked around at his team and surrounding, realizing what had happened within moments. Clearly still drowsy - Kai noticed the darkened bags under his eyes and slightly hallowed cheeks - Kenny gave Tyson an apologetic look. "Sorry Tyson... I must have dozed off. I haven't been getting much sleep-"

"This is important, Chief!" Tyson snapped, "We need to be ready for the prelims, we can't afford to be slacking off like this!"

"C'mon Tyse, he's clearly exhausted - maybe he should take a rest for awhile." Max offered quietly, coming up behind him, placing a comforting hand on Tyson's shoulder. "He has a lot more work lately, and Hil's isn't around to help either-"

Tyson's head snapped back to glare at Max, who instantly recoiled at the livid look on his best friends face - lifting his hand away. The taboo word had been spoken. "Kenny doesn't need  _her_  help! That's no excuse! We have a Championship to win!" Tyson's voice dropped dangerously low.

"It's not Maxy's fault, Tyson. Don't be like that." Ray was suddenly at Max's side, giving him the comforting hand to the shoulder now - squeezing in reassurance. Max settled slightly as Ray turned his attention back to Tyson. "We are all working hard - Kenny most of all. He's allowed to be tired."

Tyson seemed to shake out of his building anger at that and gave Max an apologetic look. "Sorry." He mumbled, blushing faintly.

Max could only smile weakly in reassurance while Kenny bowed his head in embarrassment.

Kai exhaled loudly, getting to his feet. Obviously, they weren't going to make much more headway today, not with everyone on edge like this again. "Alright, let's cut today short. We need Kenny with a clear mind - he needs sleep, and we all need to cool off." It was a hotter evening than usual tonight, but the true meaning wasn't lost on his team. The rest of the Blade Breakers mumbled various sounds of agreement as Kai turned to give Tyson a pointed look. "Tyson," And as an afterthought, he looked down to the monkey-boy still sitting off to the side, "Daichi - help Kenny back to the dojo. I don't trust him to get there without passing out again."

Tyson nodded stiffly, while Daichi seemed relieved to be free of his intense exercise routine - both quickly helped the Cheif to his feet, packing up his Dizzi laptop and various pieces of equipment under their arms and guided him out of the park and back to Tyson's dojo. Kenny mumbling quiet apologies the whole way home.

Kai pinched at the bridge of his nose, squeezing his eyes shut and furrowing his brows in both frustration and exhaustion himself. They still had another month and a half before the prelims, and already the Blade Breakers were faltering without their anchor - they were falling apart one day at a time. Kai wasn't sure how many more weeks they could last like this.

Surely it was only a matter of time before-

"Kai." He felt a familiar hand on his shoulder, as Ray's voice cut him from his thoughts. Kai looked up into Ray's golden cat-eyes, noting the emotions of worry and something else he couldn't quite place. "We need to talk."

Kai's frowned slightly at Ray's serious tone, his eyes flickered downward for the briefest of moments, but that's all it took to see Max standing beside Ray - giving him his famous puppy eyes?

_'Ah, shit.'_

* * *

Hilary felt her stomach drop, her heart pounded in her ears as she tried to make sense of her surroundings. The panicked scream that bubbled up from her throat was cut silent as a strong hand clamped down over her mouth.

Adrenaline suddenly surged through her body, the pain that plagued her faded into the back of her mind as her eyes fought to focus against the darkness of her room.

Before the panic or the post-traumatic flashback could kick in, she felt a hot breath against her neck and a familiar voice hushing her gently, whispering her name. "Hilary. It's okay, it's me." She could feel him slowly raise his hand from her lips, hovering for a few moments just in case. "Don't wake the others."

With a sharp intake of breath, "Kai?" Her voice exhaled in a whisper as she finally began to see the outline of his face. Out of instinct, she punched his shoulder. "What the fuck is wrong with you?! You scared the shit out of- oww..." Her quiet berating trailed off, as did the adrenaline - the pain in her right arm suddenly jolted tenfold as she hit him.

Grabbing at her arm, Hilary groaned under him and began to curl into a fetal position as her body reminded her of the intense training she endured and the lack of pain-killers in her system again.

Kai's initial smirk when his girlfriend punched him for scaring her was shortlived, especially when he saw how quickly she crumpled from the pain. "Jade told me you had a rough day, how bad did they run you?" He was instantly and instinctively rubbing her arms and back gently - trying to ease her pain as she whimpered slightly. "I haven't seen you this rough since the bit-beast fevers!" His voice was still at a whisper, but Kai was clearly upset.

He wasn't sure what exactly The Majestics had been putting her through, but even Tyson wasn't in this much pain with his intensified training regiment. Kai couldn't deny he had become overly protective of Hilary over the years, especially since Biovolt had manipulated them both and put her life at risk - but he also didn't like the idea of anyone else training her but him. He knew he had no choice now, this is what Hilary wanted - but he certainly never agreed to let his girlfriend suffer such physical costs.

Hilary ignored his question and instead asked her own, (much like Kai would - he smirked slightly realizing how similar her habits had become to his). "What are you doing here? How did you get in here? Why are you-?" Hilary's raspy-strained voice was cut short as Kai came down to silence her with a passionate kiss - hands tangling in her still-damp hair, pulling up on the back of her neck to deepen the kiss.

Kai didn't have much time, he certainly didn't want to waste what time he had. He missed her, god he missed her. The heaviness in his chest each time they were apart was still something Kai could never get used to. He never expected this girl - Tyson's classmate and class president, the random tag-a-long who once knew absolutely nothing about the Beyblading world or the Blade Breakers - to ever have this effect on him. Or any girl for that matter. The Blade Breakers had faired fine before she showed up in their lives, but now he couldn't imagine his life without her.

It didn't feel right.

Hilary moaned again but for a different reason this time.

Kai's desperate hands slowly slid down the sides of her throat, over her shoulders, and down her arms - his palms dragging over her heated skin. She could almost feel the pain of her muscles seep up into his touches. Kai's lips trailed down slightly, assaulting her jawline and throat. His hands found her waist as he adjusted her position (as if she was weightless) against him; hot fingers sinking into her aching muscles.

Two weeks.

It was only two weeks; they had endured longer during the Third World Championships before. Somehow it felt like an eternity this time.

But now, with his hands all over her and his lips drowning out her pain, it was as if time hadn't passed since that night two weeks ago. They were picking up right where they left off; was this round two?

Hilary blushed at the thought.

Now was not the time. Hilary was sore and confused - but no matter how much she had missed him or his lips, she wanted answers.

"Kai, what's going on?" She whispered between breaths, the lingering sleepy fog in her mind beginning to clear.

"Hn." She silently cursed that word, it was his answer to everything, it could mean  _'yes'_ ,  _'no'_ ,  _'what do you want'_ , or even  _'fuck off, don't talk to me'._

Now he seemed to be using it to say,  _'Kiss now, answers later.'_  As his mouth came back up to find hers, nipping at her lower lip for entrance. His tongue entangling with hers as she moaned into his mouth once more.

Using what little physical strength she had left, Hilary used her palms to push up on Kai's collarbone - trying to lift him to give her room to breathe, to think.

Albeit begrudgingly.

Kai surprisingly didn't fight it; reluctantly moving his hands from her body to place them on either side of her head on the pillows - locking his elbows he hovered over her, catching her tired gaze through the dark.

Hilary's hand shot up above them to her headboard where she clicked a switch for the lamps sitting in the corners of the room - finally giving her proper view of her romantic intruder as dim light filled the space between them. She let her arm fall heavily back down on the mattress as she gave him a tired yet stern look.

"Explain." She hissed, exhaling a staggered breath - partially from the pain, mostly from the kiss.

But as Kai opened his mouth to speak, there was gentle rapping on her bedroom door behind them and another quiet familiar voice caught their attention. "Kai? Is Hilary awake now?"

Kai grunted, clearly annoyed his time was up - as Hilary instantly shot up in bed, ignoring the pain that surged through her body as she stared wildly at the door. It hesitantly creaked open as Kai rolled off of his girlfriend to stand at the side of her bed.

"Maxy?" Hilary gasped just as a mass of blonde hair and familiar blue eyes peeked in to greet her with a warm smile. And then behind him, "Ray?!" The way her eyes lit up at the sight of them gave Kai a reluctant comfort to see her smile again. She slowly crawled towards the end of the bed as Ray ushered Max in and quietly shut the door behind them. "I don't understand. What are you boys doing here?"

"We missed you," Ray said simply, a soft smile touching his lips as Max rushed forward to hug Hilary. "And Mariah figured it would do us all some good to come see you."

"Oh- ow ow ow..." Hilary had a half a moment to process the information just as Max lunged into her open arms. The blonde quickly recoiled in worry and Kai instinctively growled as he grabbed Max by the back of his collar to lift him off of her.

"Gentle Max. She's sore." Kai scolded - already regretting his weakness to the kids puppy-eyes a few hours earlier.

"I'm so sorry Hilary. Are you okay?" Max looked guilty as he quickly adjusted himself to sit cross-legged in front of her as he gently held her shoulders to steady her.

Ray quickly crossed the space between them and joined Kai's side to stare down at his friend in worry too; his hand gently stroking her hair - a comforting habit Hilary hadn't realized she missed so much until now. "What happened?" Ray was giving her his "older brother" look again, something she was only privy to on the rare occasion when Ray got very serious. It wasn't often that Ray dropped his chill attitude and friendly demeanour, but when he did - there was often a very good reason for it.

Hilary smiled sheepishly, worrying her boys was the last thing she ever wanted to do. "It's okay Maxy, I'm just a bit sore from training today. Well, and all week, honestly. But today was more intense than usual." Hilary squeezed Max's fingers in reassurance and leaned her head into Ray's hand at the gesture. She smiled up at him, "I missed you guys too."

Kai's irritation and regret only grew in the two hours that followed as he remembered the conversation mere hours before.

_'We need to talk.'_

_'Please, Kai? I really miss her too.'_

_'We all miss her. Mariah says she misses us too.'_

_'I promise to do all my push-ups tomorrow!'_

_'We won't tell Tyson.'_

And then the puppy eyes...

Even the once strict-class president-Hilary could rarely say no to Max's perfected puppy-eyes. Kai was no exception in his weakened state. He allowed his two friends to follow him to Lockheart Castle - and with the help of Mariah they had snuck into the building and stealthed their way down the various hallways to her bedroom.

Ray was  _almost_  generous and had given him three full minutes of alone time to wake her up before he and Max would make their entrance.

Kai backed up against the far wall, leaning against it arms crossed par usual habit, as he watched the three friends hug and talk excitedly in hushed tones about what she had been learning so far.

The irritation bubbled just beneath the surface as Max lay back on the bed, his head in her lap as he stared up at her while they talked. Ray had positioned himself behind her and helped her with some martial stretching and finished it by massaging her shoulders with strong hands. He knew the three of them were always close, even before Kai was truly in the picture - their friendship had been there before his feelings for her even surfaced.

Even still, Kai couldn't help but feel jealous.

Max was hyper and playful with almost anyone, but Hilary especially so - but he was never a threat. Not to Kai, anyway. Hilary's friendship with the blonde was innocent and simple. Max made friends so easily, and his sweet nature was comforting and quickly brought out a softer side of Hilary in their initial days of friendship.

But Ray... sometimes her closeness with Ray unnerved him slightly. Long before Kai had kissed her for the first time, and long before Hilary started paying the phoenix prince more attention - he had often spotted Hilary with Ray together (if she wasn't off playing video games with Max).

Back then, Kai would often catch the two of them sitting shoulder to shoulder on the edge of the dojo porch, feet dangling as they sat in comfortable silences, an almost daily occurrence after training.

Ray had always been able to read Hilary like a book. Mind you, Ray was also good at reading Kai from day one too - he was the first one to notice Kai's interest in their new female friend. In hindsight, Ray was also probably the first person to notice Hilary's feelings as well. Thinking about that bothered him too.

It didn't help that Hilary often went to Ray with her problems or frustrations - be it with Tyson or school. Kai was quiet back then but he was also very observant of his team and their interactions; even Kai had to agree Ray was easy to talk to. But the cat-boy was nice to her from the very beginning as if she had always belonged with the Blade Breakers - back when Kai was still cold and distant and definitely not 100% on board with any change, let alone having a girl suddenly in their midst.

But Ray was good with women; he was sensitive, empathetic and caring - none of that came naturally to Kai as it seemed to with the cat-boy. Kai suspected Hilary probably would have been attracted to Ray if he didn't already have a girlfriend back then.

Somehow she chose him instead.

Talking to Hilary in the beginning had been similar to getting sucked into a whirlpool – at first, it would be a mutual hello simply out of politeness (with the occasional mutually distrustful looks in-between training), then a remark about his overly depressing demeanour when he was off brooding in corners, a retort about her inability to see the bit-beasts - and before he knew it he had been sucked in. Talking for ages.

Kai still didn't understand it most days, it was strange how normal it felt - but he was grateful for it anyway.

Her friendship with Ray and Max was her normal and Kai was late to the party.

Despite the jealousy ebbing at his insides, watching the looks of relief and suddenly energized smiles of his friends reminded Kai this was a morale boost they all needed. He suspected Daichi and Kenny would benefit from a reunion too. But Tyson...

Kai leaned his head back against the wall, fighting a sigh.

He knew Tyson would freak out if he saw his teammates hugging the 'enemy' - that's why he allowed this secret meeting in the first place. The Blade Breakers were under enough tension as it was, they couldn't afford Tyson's temper to punish the rest of them just because they missed her. The last thing they needed was more stress.

Hilary wasn't the enemy though, Tyson needed to realize that. Kai knew Hilary loved Tyson like a dumb brother. He also knew she valued Tyson's friendship and respect more than she ever cared to admit - so he knew Tyson's anger and resentment was actively hurting his girlfriend.

Convincing the navy-haired blader was another matter entirely. Kai wasn't sure how he was going to handle Tyson after the World Championships were over. Hilary may not have wanted the Blade Breakers to abandon Tyson, but Kai wasn't going to leave Hilary behind much longer - there was only so much patience Kai had to spare.

"Hilary, why didn't you tell us about your parents when it happened?" Ray's soft voice snapped him back to reality.

Hilary spun around to glare across the room at Kai accusingly, who instinctively held up his hands in defence. He was equally surprised as she was, he hadn't mentioned it because he knew Hilary had kept it to herself for a reason. Kai understood her reasoning, his own past was delicate too - he wasn't about to air his girlfriends' dirty laundry when he kept his own close to the chest too.

"That fucking cat..." Hilary groaned into her hands, quickly realizing the culprit.

Apparently, Ray's girlfriend didn't hold the same sentiments.

"Mariah is really worried about you Hil's..." Ray offered apologetically, "She thinks you're happier with the Blade Breakers."

"Of course I am," Hilary grumbled, still refusing to look up at her friends.

"Then come back!" Max sat up quickly, with a hopeful expression.

Kai twitched at their futile attempts, Hilary was more stubborn than that.

"You know I can't. Not yet." Hilary huffed in frustration as she looked up to the concerned faces of Ray and Max. "And I didn't tell  _anyone._  You guys were dealing with a lot back then. We were being kidnapped and attacked every other day - we almost lost your bit-beasts and there were bigger things happening in the world for me to worry about. Life didn't stop just because my parents died. I couldn't stop either." She ran a shaky hand through her brown locks. "It was easier to keep moving forward than to think about it, honestly."

Another unsettling edge of jealousy stabbed at his insides as Ray pulled her into a strong hug, Max coming around her other side to wrap his arms around the two of them too.

"I'm sorry we didn't notice." Ray sighed, letting his chin rest on the top of her head.

Hilary hugged Ray back and smiled as Max nuzzled at her cheek. "I didn't want you to. Besides, you guys are my family now. That's all I need."

Kai coughed unceremoniously, breaking the moment as he glanced at the clock on the wall. Two hours had passed quickly while he was busy with his own thoughts. "It's getting really late," That was true, but he was also looking for an excuse to break up the affection his girlfriend was receiving. "We need to get out of here before The Majestics realize we are commandeering their team captain." There was a subtle smirk at that - Kai felt a strange sense of pride upon hearing from Jade that his girlfriend had become the team captain.

The two bladers nodded reluctantly as they untangled themselves from around Hilary and made their way to the door.

"Stay strong, okay Hilary? We'll see you soon I promise!" Max smiled sadly with a gentle wave as he slipped out the door first.

Hilary nodded as Ray gave her a quick kiss to the top of her head before ruffling her hair with his hand affectionately - Kai suppressed an irritated growl. "Promise me, you'll call me if you need anything okay? Don't push yourself too hard either." Ray had that serious look on his face again before he turned to lock eyes with Kai. "Two minutes." He said simply before following Max and shutting the door behind him.

Kai grunted and rolled his eyes at the Chinese blader, before turning his attention back to Hilary - she had tears in her eyes.

"Thank you." She whispered, her voice breaking ever so slightly behind her wide smile.

Kai let his own walls crumble the moment he was alone with her again, quickly crossing the room to reach her. His hand grabbed her chin to lift her gaze up to his, auburn eyes blazing with desire. "I  _will_  be back for you. You're mine." He reminded her as he leaned down to capture her lips once more.

As Hilary sighed into his mouth - her arms lazily reaching up to wrap around his neck, allowing him to pull her ever closer - Kai knew he could not be without her much longer.

Kai was going to find a way to bring her home to him if it was the last thing he did.

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Somewhat of a filler chapter, as the Blade Breakers begin to cope with Hilary's absence - Kai had some revelations about the past too. I still have more interesting things planned for the next chapter that don't focus solely on Hilary. We'll see what happens.
> 
> Still dealing with my car accident injury and recovery so I thank everyone for their patience and for not abandoning this ship!
> 
> Reviews and Comments greatly appreciated
> 
> xoxo


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